Globalization, Food Imperialism and War

will be one of the major themes at

Biodevastation 7: A Forum on Environmental Racism, World Agriculture and Biowarfare

May 16-18, 2003, Mildred Bastian Theatre, 5600 Oakland, St. Louis, Missouri USA

Since the commercialization of genetically engineered food crops began in the mid-1990s, biotechnology has been a means for global corporations to concentrate their control over our food and our health. The story began with Monsanto's aggressive promotion of biotech crops and its wanton contamination of food growing regions throughout the world. Other companies, most recently Bayer and Syngenta, followed suit, combining the marketing of agricultural chemicals with GE seeds developed to optimize the use of those chemicals. Every one of these companies has its roots in wartime production and war profiteering, from 19th century gunpowder production by DuPont -- now owner of the world's largest seed company -- to the development of DDT, Agent Orange and the high-dosage Roundup being used to eradicate coca crops in South America.

International financial institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO have also supported the expansion of GE agriculture, through development loans, "technology transfer" programs, and direct pressure to weaken local environmental and food safety laws. The WTO's intellectual property rules have been used to force countries like India to accept the patenting of life. US officials continue to threaten WTO sanctions against Europe's moratorium on new GE crop varieties.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) offers loans and loan guarantees to countries throughout the world for purchases of GE grain that people in Europe and Japan refuse to eat. Several African countries sparked an international incident last summer when many refused this tainted "food aid." Agriculture, and specifically biotech agriculture, plays a central role in the upcoming world trade negotiations scheduled for Cancún, Mexico in September, 2003. Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South has called the proposed Agreement on Agriculture " the WTO's Achilles' Heel."

The panel on Globalization, Food Imperialism and War will feature leading critics of the global "free trade"/biotech agenda:

Dr. Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in New Delhi, is one of the world's leading critics of "free trade," biotechnology, and the ways biotech-based transnationals are threatening the survival of traditional growers of food throughout the world.

Dr. Mwananyanda Mbikusita Lewanika, of the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research in Zambia, was a key figure in the Zambian government's effort to investigate the implications of GE food aid. He was part of the Zambian scientific mission that came to the US in summer 2003 and ultimately urged its government to continue refusing genetically engineered corn.

Brian Tokar, of the Institute for Social Ecology's Biotechnology Project in Vermont, is a widely published author, grassroots activist, and winner of a 1999 Project Censored Award for his investigative history of Monsanto. He has been involved in the planning and organizing of the "Biodevastation" international gatherings since the series began in St. Louis in 1998.

The major panel on globalization will be…

7:00 pm, Friday, May 16, 2003, " Globalization, Food Imperialism and War "

Workshops related to this theme will include:

2:00-3:45 pm, Friday, May 16. "WTO and the Road to Cancún," Vandana Shiva & John Kinsman

1:45-3:30 pm, Saturday, May 17. "Crop Contamination in Latin America," Ignacio Chapela, Ana Ruiz Diaz & S'ra DeSantis

1:45-3:30 pm, Saturday, May 17. Resisting GMOs in Africa, Dr. M.M. Lewanika, Lawrence Tsimese & Raymond Bokor

Biodevastation 7 also includes the following panel discussions:

10:00 am, Friday, May 16: The International Threat to Farms and Farmers

7:00 pm, Friday, May 16: Globalization and Food Imperialism

10:00 am, Saturday, May 17: Backyard Bioweapons: Biolabs, Biodefense, Biotech, & Billions of $

10:00 am, Sunday, May 18: Crop Contamination and the Future of Indigenous Agriculture

On the afternoon of Sunday, May 18 there will be an anti-globalization convergence at the World Agricultural Forum (http://www.worldagforum.com). Call 314-771-8576 for details.

Biodevastation 7 is sponsored by the Gateway Green Alliance, P.O. Box 8094, St. Louis MO 63156, USA; 314-664-1199

Cosponsors: Institute for Social Ecology, Greens/Green Party USA, JMG Foundation, Ben & Jerry's Foundation, Solidago Foundation, Fund for Wild Nature