“Beyond Biodevastation”- The Fifth Grassroots Gathering to Celebrate Biodiversity and Question Genetic Engineering
Teach-In, June 22-23, 2001, San Diego, California, USA
*=concurrent workshops
Friday, June 22
First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, 4190 Front Street
2:00 p.m. Registration opens
3:30-5:30 p.m.
* Food Issues – panel/workshop – Food First’s Dr. Peter Rosset and Canada’s Brewster and Cathleen Kneen (co-editors,The Ramshorn and experts on the food system)
* Farm Issues – panel/workshop – Bill Wenzel (Farmer-to-Farmer Campaign), John Kinsman (Family Farm Defenders/National Family Farm Coalition [NFFC]), Bill Christison (NFFC), Percy Schmeiser (Canadian farmer sued by Monsanto), Ted Quaday (Farm Aid), moderator
5:30 -6:30 p.m.
* Dinner
* G.E. Storytelling/Comedic Wisdom – Carter Brooks
Music – Prince Mishkin Band
6:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Welcome and Overview – Brian Tokar (Institute for Social Ecology) and
Beth Burrows (Edmonds Institute)
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
* Science and Genetic Engineering – panel/workshop – Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher (UK Nexus group), Dr. Martha Crouch (formerly of University of Indiana, expert on “terminator”), and Brian Tokar (ISE), moderating
* Organics and Other Alternatives – panel/workshop – Marc Lipson (Organic Farming Research Foundation), Brian Leahy (California Certified Organic Farmers), Claire Cummings (Food and Farm Forum), and Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology, India)
8:30 – 10:00 p.m.
* Biowarfare – Edward Hammond and Susana Pimiento (both-Sunshine Project) – workshop in Spanish and English
* Human Genetic Engineering – Dr. Marcy Darnovsky (The Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies), Dr. Paul Billings (Council for Responsible Genetics), Andrew Imparato (American Association for People with Disabilities)
* Patents, Biopiracy, and Globalization – Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology), Andrew Kimbrell (Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety), Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Center for Policy Research and Education, The Philippines and member of the Third World Network), Andr�s Barreda (Professor, UNAM, Mexico), Chaia Heller (Institute for Social Ecology), and Beth Burrows (Edmonds Institute), moderating – workshop in Spanish and English
* * * * * * * * * *
Saturday, June 23
Starlight Bowl, Balboa Park, San Diego
8:30 a.m. Registration opens
9:30 a.m. Warm-up music with folksinger Peg Millet
10:00 Food First’s Dr. Peter Rosset, emcee – starts with a general overview of the day’s program and the problems of genetic engineering – in English and Spanish
10:15 Migale Offerman, representative of San Diego Organizing Group – welcomes the audience to San Diego and thanks all who helped on the event -in English and Spanish
10:25 Jim Hightower, “America’s most popular populist” (and writer, editor, and former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture) – on genetic engineering and the corporate world and democracy [CANCELLED]
10:50 Food Issues – presentations from:
Andrew Kimbrell (Center for Food Safety), John Kinsman (Family Farm Defenders/ NFFC), Bill Christison (National Family Farm Coalition), and Percy Schmeiser (Canadian farmer being sued by Monsanto for having their genes in his crops)
11:50 Steve Wilson & Jane Akre, Goldman Award-winning reporters who fought a Florida television station (and Monsanto) for the right to report their findings on recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) honestly
12:10 p.m. Brasil/Brazil Band – with Ana Gazzola, Sonia Santos, Kevin Kearney, Crecco Buratto, Fernando Raio, Cristiano Bertolucci, Claudinho Smile, and Ben� da Silva
1:00 emcees Beth Burrows (Edmonds Institute) and Brian Tokar (Institute for Social Ecology) – overview of international, political, and ethical implications of the afternoon’s issues
1:05 Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Center for Policy Research and Education, The Philippines and member of the Third World Network) on biopiracy and on indigenous perspectives on genetic engineering
1:25 Vandana Shiva (ecologist/author/activist and Director, Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology, India) – on Biodiversity, Genetic Engineering, and Globalization
2:00 Music interlude – with folksinger Peg Millet
*2:05 Activist Responses around the World to Genetic Engineering – with:
Skip Spitzer (PANNA)
Luke Anderson (UK author and activist)
Jim Thomas (Greenpeace,UK)
Rowan Tilly – (genetix snowball,UK)
Lucy Sharratt (Polaris Institute and Sierra Club, Canada)
Craig Winters (Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Food)
Anne Petermann (Native Forest Network)
Susana Pimiento (The Sunshine Project)
Karen Kallman (South African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering)
* 3:50 Joel Rafael Band – with Carl Johnson, Jamaica Rafael, Jeff Berkley, and Joel Rafael
* 4:35 Andrew J. Imparato (President and CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities) – A Disability Perspective on Human Genetic Engineering
* 4:55 Andrew Kimbrell (Director, Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, lawyer, and author) – Patents, Commodification, and Globalization
* 5:15 Chaia Heller (Institute for Social Ecology) – The Corporate Picture and Beyond
* 5:35 Closing announcements, thank yous, reminders about the evening workshops.
Note: Everyone and everything must be out of the Starlight Bowl by 6 p.m.
* * * * *
Saturday, June 23
San Diego City College, 1313 12th Avenue
(Note: Some of these workshops run concurrently with events at the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park.)
2:30 pm
* GMOs Force-Fed to Nicaragua – a workshop with Morgan Guyton (Nicaragua Network)
* Legal Observer Training – a workshop with Kate Yavenditti (National Lawyer’s Guild, San Diego), Mica Spencer (National Lawyer’s Guild, San Diego), and Mimi LaValley (BioJustice Legal Team)
* WTO for Activists – a workshop with Kristin Dawkins and Neil Sorensen (IATP)
4:15 pm
* Grassroots Organizing – a workshop with Jeanne Merrill (Greenpeace) and Simon Harris (Organic Consumers Association)
* Legislative Campaign Efforts to Fight Biotechnology – a workshop with Craig Winters (Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Food), Dr. Marcy Darnovsky (Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies) and Lucy Sharratt (Polaris Institute and Sierra Club of Canada)
* Facilitation Skills – a workshop with Skip Spitzer (Pesticide Action Network, North America and Santa Cruz Direct Action Network)
* GE Trees: Facilitating the Frankentree Failure – a workshop with Mark Des Marets (Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering, Global Alliance Against Genetically Engineered Trees) and Anne Peterman (Native Forest Network)
6:00 – 7:30 pm
* Activist Responses to Genetic Engineering around the World – the discussion continues, with the audience and:
Skip Spitzer (PANNA)
Luke Anderson (UK author and activist)
Jim Thomas (Greenpeace,UK)
Rowan Tilly – (genetiX snowball,UK)
Lucy Sharratt (Polaris Institute and Sierra Club, Canada)
Craig Winters (Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Food)
Anne Petermann (Native Forest Network)
Susana Pimiento (The Sunshine Project)
Karen Kallman (South African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering)
* Science and Genetic Engineering – a workshop with Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher (UK EcoNexus group), Dr. Martha Crouch (formerly of University of Indiana, expert on “terminator” technology), and Brian Tokar (Institute for Social Ecology), moderating
* Farm Issues – panel/workshop with Ted Quaday (Farm Aid), John Kinsman (Family Farm Defenders/NFFC), Bill Christison (National Family Farmers Coalition), Percy Schmeiser (Canadian farmer sued by Monsanto)
* Biopiracy and the Geopolitics of Natural Resources in North America – a workshop/lecture with Andr�s Barreda, Professor of Economic at UNAM (Mexico City, Mexico) – This workshop will be in Spanish.
(Translation into English will be available.)
7:30 – 9:00
* Human Genetic Engineering – workshop with Dr. Marcy Darnovsky (The Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies), Britt Bailey (Center for Ethics and Toxics), Dr. Paul Billings (Council for Responsible Genetics), Andrew Imparato (American Association for People with Disabilities)
* Biowarfare – workshop with Edward Hammond and Susana Pimiento (of the Sunshine Project)
* Food Issues – The Issues and the Alternatives – panel/workshop with Food First’s Peter Rossett, Canada’s Brewster and Cathleen Kneen (of The Ramshorn), Brian Leahy (California Certified Organic Farmers), and Claire Cummings (Food and Farm Forum)
* Protesting Bad Things like Bio-Engineering is Important – Creating Life Support Sustaining Economies is the Solution – with Jim Bell (Ecological Life Systems Institute)
9:00 p.m.
Patents, Biopiracy, and Globalization – workshop with Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology), Andrew Kimbrell (Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food
Safety), Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Center for Policy Research and Education, The Philippines and member of the Third World Network), Chaia Heller (Institute for Social
Ecology), and Beth Burrows (Edmonds Institute), moderating
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Co-sponsors of the “Beyond Biodevastation” Teach-In include: Environmental Health Coalition, Environmental Action Committee/First Universalist Unitarian Church of San Diego, Youth Action Network, Street Liberation Art Project, Ocean Beach People’s Food Co-op, Edmonds Institute, Institute for Social Ecology, California Certified Organic Farmers, Pesticide Action Network/North America, Organic Consumers Association, Genetic Engineering Action Network, Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Food, GE Free LA, Greenpeace USA, Genetically Engineered Food Alert, Food First, The Ruckus Society, Alliance for BioIntegrity, Center for Food Safety, Berkeley Ecology Center, Mothers and Others, EarthSave International, and all the other people whose hard work and generous donations made the event possible.
