Shake the Hive at March Against Monsanto 2013

This past Saturday was the second March Against Monsanto in Los Angeles. It was a world-wide event, taking place in hundreds of cities all over the globe.  It really is amazing to march- the energy of it is like no other. It can feel a little lonely to be reading about what is happening in the world, and trying to disseminate information to others via social networks, and to have not only facebook's limitations against you (as a like page, they want to force you to need to pay them money to get posts seen and pages liked),  but the general climate of humans in general- its true, a post of a kitten would get 50 likes while a post about Monsanto will get 3. Then there is the third dilemma- people who half know, who half understand, who will like those posts and re-post them, but won't do much more than that.

SHAKE THE HIVE at the March Against Monsanto

 So for all the lonely nights making memes and reading the news and blogging and creating recipes and blogging the recipes- these events where likeminded people who give enough of a damn to show up are manna to me. I need it, or I would lose my energy for the whole endeavor.

When I went to the March Against Monsanto on May, it was a serious turning point for me. Everything about my life changed. I started this blog. I became an activist. I started the facebook page to go along with this blog (click HERE to go and like the page). It was never going to be my health that changed my lifestyle. It needed to be something more than that. Yeah, I know, my health is a big deal, but it wasn't compelling enough for a radical shift, for whatever reason. But coming to understand the big picture about GMOs, and that changing my lifestyle was REVOLUTIONARY- that spoke to me. I learned about bees, and I started taking steps to be a beekeeper with HONEYLOVE. I started urban farming, and helping other organizations, like LA Green Grounds. I spend time at my local farmer's market, and buy at least half of my groceries from there. I get to know local businesses that are using organic, non GMO ingredients, many of whom I met at the recent Artisanal LA, many of whom I will feature in upcoming blogs. And I have been busy at work on my cookbook, the New Anarchist's Cookbook, due in 2014. So you see, it was a powerful event for me, as I am sure it was for the others who attended. And hopefully it got the people who saw the Marches, either in person or in the sparse media coverage interested in knowing more about why so many people would take to the streets.

Its amazing to me that later in the day, I saw some friends, who asked what we had been doing. They said, "What is Monsanto? What is a GMO?" People still remain in the dark. Here is a great video to share on your FB page and on any other social media. People need to understand what is going on.

At this March, I was exposed to  the TPP,  or Trans Pacific Partnership, which I plan on studying up on this week. Here is a little bit about what the TPP is, and its very scary.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership n. 1. A "free trade" agreement that would set rules on non-trade matters such as food safety, internet freedom, medicine costs, financial regulation, and the environment. 2. A binding international governance system that would require the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and any other country that signs on to conform their domestic policies to its rules.  3. A secret trade negotiation that has included over 600 official corporate "trade advisors" while hiding the text from Members of Congress, governors, state legislators, the press, civil society, and the public. 

To read more, click HERE

Here is another way of looking at the TPP-

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would create a super-treaty which would jeopardize the sovereignty of the nations involved by giving that power to large corporations like Wal-Mart, Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, Halliburton, Philip Morris, GE, GM, Apple.  TO read more of this, click HERE.

I was very impressed to see so many kids at the March. One family that stole my heart was a mom and dad and three kids dressed like bees. The mom was in a full on bhurka. The diversity of the crowd warmed my heart- from a wide range of cultures, and age differences- some really funky hippies and some very conservative looking people- they all hit the streets and they all did that out of love. Why else? They want to wake people up, they want people to know that evil is right on their doorstep, to vote with their dollars, to get informed, to make choices that are aligned with a bright future for human beings and the planet.

If you were not able to make it, I implore you to please make the next March Against Monsanto, and any protests against the TPP. If there are only a few hundred marching, its easy to ignore. But if we can get thousands in the streets- it can not be swept under the carpet. These are some of the biggest issues facing everyone today, whether they want to pay attention to it or not- it affects everyone equally. 

Marching Downtown LA

Just so you know for the next march- Its really easy to get downtown on the Metro, so you don't have to worry about parking or getting back to your car- I took it for the first time, and met the most amazing people, including these kids.  They marched the whole day from 10am to after 4pm. I love these kids, and their mom for exposing them to the idea of taking action. I like knowing these kids are probably not eating foods with GMOs, thanks to their mom's awareness and diligence. This is the future! Shake the Hive!!

Little Anons after the March Against Monsanto at the LA Metro Station

love and rockets,

Ashley Dane
Shake the Hive