The Sovereign Voice Issue 5 | Page 115

Reprinted with Permission Monsanto was invited to the Tribunal, but decided not to appear for their defense. We did get their attention though. They issued a statement in 5 languages saying that we are ‘pushing’ the wrong issues, since the real discussion is about feeding the world. Monsanto fails to see feeding the world in a safe way was exactly the topic of the Tribunal and of the discussion farmers, consumer movements, and their associated networks had in the parallel People’s Assembly. Many eminent speakers stressed that Monsanto and agribusiness giants like them do not feed the world. Rather, they are involved in producing commodities, feed for animals, fuel for cars, and sugar for the food industry at a very high cost for human health and environment. This is production that feeds profit, not people. It’s the smalland medium-scale farmers that are actually feeding the world. This Tribunal and People’s Assembly are about showing the tremendous costs of industrial farming for humans, for health, and for nature. They are also about standing up to Monsanto and their likes, and stopping them from poisoning our world and controlling our food supply. One way to do this is by showing the true cost of the current global food system, and the very real alternatives that exist. TheSovereignVoice.Org