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Title: Two Biotech Corporations Dealt Blows By GE Foes:
Seventh Anti-GE Action In U.S. This Month
Author: Jeffrey Tufenkian (619) 584-6462
Date: 30-SEP-1999
Source: jeffrey@towardsfreedom.com
Reference: Genetix Alert
PO Box 3992, San Diego, CA 92163, USA
From worker-damn@lists.tao.ca

Two underground organizations teamed up to destroy crops and equipment at two genetic engineering (GE) facilities in Woodland, California early Thursday morning according to an anonymous communiqué released the same day.

Organic-gardening guerrilla groups "Reclaim the Seeds" and "Future Farmers" joined forces to decontaminate a test plot of GE sunflowers and fifty rows of GE research corn planted at a Pioneer Hi-Bred International research facility as well as several hundred GE research melons at the Rogers NK Seed Company Research Station. At the melon site, the concerned nighttime gardeners also disabled an irrigation system, dismantled trellises of two GE greenhouses and fully disassembled a third. "Any university or corporation proclaiming the benefits of biotechnology or found to be engaging in GE research will have their crops nonviolently decontaminated by the growing movement to protect the fabric of life, "forewarned Johanna Appleseed of Reclaim the Seeds.

Future Farmers member Brock Ohlee added, "Direct action against corporate greed is both a political necessity and a moral imperative. When corporations threaten the planet's food supply and jeopardize our common future for the pursuit of profit, the people have the right and the responsibility to fight back. We stand against the politics of death and the economics of misery.

We stand for environmental sustainability, community stewardship of resources, and social justice."

Pioneer, the largest seed company in the world, was recently gobbled up for over $7.7 billion by chemical giant DuPont. On Sept. 12, Minnesota Bolt Weevils leveled Pioneer GE crops in Mankato, Minnesota. Rogers NK is owned by Novartis, the biotech corporation which recently signed a "strategic alliance" with U.C. Berkeley for a genetically manipulated future. GE research crops funded by Novartis money were targeted most recently by Reclaim the Seeds on Sept. 14 in Berkeley. The Bolt Weevils also destroyed corn at a Novartis Seed Research field in Goodhue County, MN, on September 3.

Details of past anti-GE actions are available at www.tao.ca/~ban/ar.htm. Genetix Alert is an independent news center which works with other above-ground, anti-genetic engineering organizations. GA has no knowledge of the person(s) who carryout any underground actions. GA does not advocate illegal acts, but seeks to explain why people destroy genetically engineered crops and undertake other nonviolent actions aimed at resisting genetic engineering and increasing the difficulty for entities which seek to advance genetic engineering or its products. GA spokespeople are available for media interviews.

Reclaim the Seeds & Future Farmers Communiqué
September 30, 1999

TWO BIOTECH CORPORATIONS DEALT BLOWS BY GE FOES

Yolo County, CA-Organic-gardening guerrilla groups "Reclaim the Seeds" and "Future Farmers" teamed up and targeted genetic engineering (GE) research at two corporate facilities in Woodland, CA early this morning. Among the biohazards decontaminated were a test plot of GE sunflowers and 50 rows of GE research corn planted at a Pioneer Hi-Bred International research facility, as well as several hundred GE research melons at the Rogers NK Seed Company Research Station. At the melon site, the concerned nighttime gardeners also disabled an irrigation system, dismantled trellises of two GE greenhouses and fully disassembled a third.

These simultaneous acts of organic resistance are aimed at the U.S. biotech industry and the genetic manipulation of plants and animals everywhere. Johnna Appleseed of Reclaim the Seeds explained today's action: "In our first of many conspiratorial crop-pull collaborations with other anti-genetix groups, we mean to illustrate with eloquence and clarity the tide of passion, outrage and unified effort that is rising against genetically modified organisms."

Ms. Appleseed also forewarned, "Any university or corporation proclaiming the benefits of biotechnology or found to be engaging in GE research will have their crops nonviolently decontaminated by the growing movement to protect the fabric of life.

"As GE crop-pullings become more effective and widespread, the universities and corporations targeted have fallen back on a denial policy as their main public relations response. Claiming that activists pull up non-GE crops on nearly every occasion, while boasting of their biotech focus on the Internet, is ridiculous.

We wish to address this now as it is becoming a standard response. "If any of these entities wish to ensure our gardeners' complete accuracy in targeting the correct crops, they should label their GE research, remove the shroud of secrecy and let the truth be known, so the public can make informed decisions and actions." Future Farmers member Brock Ohlee added, "Direct action against corporate greed is both a political necessity and a moral imperative. When corporations threaten the planet's food supply and jeopardize our common future for the pursuit of profit, the people have the right and the responsibility to fight back. We stand against the politics of death and the economics of misery. We stand for environmental sustainability, Community stewardship of resources, and social justice."

Pioneer, the largest seed company in the world, was recently gobbled up for over $7.7 billion by chemical giant DuPont. On Sept. 12, Minnesota Bolt Weevils leveled Pioneer GE crops in Mankato, Minnesota. Rogers NK is owned by Novartis, the biotech corporation which recently signed a "strategic alliance" with U.C. Berkeley for a genetically manipulated future. GE research crops funded by Novartis money were targeted most recently by Reclaim the Seeds on Sept. 14 in Berkeley. The Bolt Weevils also destroyed corn at a Novartis Seed Research field in Goodhue County, MN, on September 3.

DIRECTIONS TO TODAY'S ACTION SITES

Pioneer: 18285 County Road 96, between Ct. Rd. 24 and Highway 16, Woodland, CA.

Rogers Seed Co./Novartis Seeds: 21435 Ct. Rd. 98, 1/4 mile north of Ct. Rd. 27, Woodland, CA

From Davis, take Russell Boulevard west to 98. Go north on 98 and follow county roads (in numeric grid pattern) until arrival at sites.

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