Occupy Monsanto

 Our Occupy Chico delegation made it down the valley to Davis to demonstrate at Monsanto. Yesterday a bigger crowd spent the day in the rain but did shut it down. Today it was just a group of about 50 of us in Assembly with speakers and working out demands but lots of connections were made and strength taken from our shared purpose. The young woman below expresses it pretty well...

 Many of the speakers were sobering but there was also a sweetness and trustfulness in the crowd. Occupy is our vehicle and we will organize our way out of the corporate stranglehold despite near over-whelming obstacles. The young were chalking things like "I remember real food" and vegan burritos were passed around. Lovers, families, groups with special interests, like those organizing for GMO labeling or against clear cutting, were all in the fold.

 Our most moving speaker was an elder from the Farm Worker Movement, a contemporary of Cesar Chavez who told the story of how the Mexican government is also capitulating to Monsanto, making it hard for family farmers to live sustainably since they no longer control their seed (once the GMO pollen drifts to their field Monsanto can say they have to pay since it is now the GMO seed.) The prominent sign below says, Without Corn There is No Peace. Someone has pasted a contaminated sign on the Monsanto sign in front of the building--you can't read it but ironically their logo is Food, Health, Hope--- the opposite of what they provide in every measure.

 I have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Celtic music alone with a few shots of Bailey's for silent company. Michael is off skiing in the blizzards and powder that mark his idea of a very good time. I look upon myself through the looking glass of the Monsanto building, with the No Guns on the Premises sign skirting me. This work, this camaraderie, this sacred trust to protect the future... spiraling back to my long-struggling Irish roots. The road rises before us with the wind at our backs... Join us. Eco-Occupy!