Invitation and Basic Schedule

You are invited to attend the

WORLD AGRICULTURE AND & BIOWARFARE

Sponsored by the Gateway Green Alliance, P.O. Box 8094, St. Louis MO 63156, USA, 314-353-8176, www.gatewaygreens.org. Cosponsors: Institute for Social Ecology, Greens/Green Party USA, JMG Foundation

BIODEVASTATION 7

Many organic farmers know of Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian who was sued for the “crime” of having his fields contaminated by genetically modified canola pollen. Have you heard of research by Ignacio Chapela, who showed that wind-blown pollen from GM crops contaminated Mexican fields hundreds of miles away?

When drought plagued southern Africa in summer 2002, the US offered to “help” by donating GM food. Consumers� Union researcher Michael Hansen went to Africa to warn of the dangers that GM food poses to human health, ecosystems and farming. Zambian scientist Mwananyanda Lewanika persuaded his government that GM food could lead to GM pollen contaminating fields, with the result that poor farmers would be unable to pay technology fees. Zambia refused all GM food.

Schmeiser, Chapela, Hansen and Lewanika will be among the many scientists and organizers who will speak and lead interactive workshops at Biodevastation 7 in St. Louis, May 16-18. Biodevastation 7 is a continuation of gatherings critical of genetic engineering which began in St. Louis in 1998 and went to Seattle, San Diego, Boston, India and Canada before returning to the center of biotechnology.

The 2003 gathering will be the cutting edge event defining links between environmental racism and Biotechnology. Speakers will show how use of the technology drives the price of farming too high for the poor, pushing them off their land, and destroying ecosystems existing in harmony with the land.

As GM advances, it transforms its victims into “terrorists” if they resist and leaves them to discover the unknown effects of eating genetically contaminated food when their bodies have been poisoned with countless agricultural chemicals.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Ignacio Chapela (University of California professor who documented GE pollen contamination of indigenous corn in Mexico), Kristin Dawkins (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy), Ana Ruiz Diaz (Permaculture Network of Mexico), Michael Dorsey (Dartmouth College), Felder Freeman (African American farmer with the Federation of Southern Co-ops), Edward Hammond (Sunshine Project, which researches bioweapons), Michael Hansen (Consumer Policy Institute), Mae-Wan Ho (Institute for Science in Society, London), Mwananyanda Mbikusita Lewanika (National Institute for Scientific Industrial Research, Zambia), Mark Mitchell (Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice), Anuradha Mittal (Institute for Food and Development Policy, California), Percy Schmeiser (Canadian farmer in a long-term legal battle with Monsanto), Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, India), Lawrence Tsimese (Ghana Organic Agriculture Network), Brian Tokar (Institute for Social Ecology, Vermont).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Friday, May 16, 2003

9:00 am registration, 9:45 am. Welcome, announcements

10:00 am – 11:45 pm. Panel: THE INTERNATIONAL THREAT TO FARMS AND FARMERS

noon – 2 pm: lunch

2 – 3:45 pm: Concurrent workshops

4:00 – 5:00 pm: Plenary

5 – 7 pm: dinner

7 – 10 pm: Panel: GLOBALIZATION AND FOOD IMPERIALISM

Saturday, May 17, 2003

9:15 am registration, 9:30 am. Plenary, announcements

10:00 am – 11:45pm Panel: BIOWARFARE

12:00 – 1:45 pm: lunch

1:45 – 3:30 pm. Concurrent workshops

3:45 – 5:30 pm Concurrent workshops

5:30 – 7:30 pm: dinner

7:30 – 10 pm. Panel: CORPORATE GREED AND ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM

Sunday, May 18, 2003

9:15 am registration, 9:30 am. Plenary, announcements

10:00 am – 11:45. Panel: CROP CONTAMINATION AND THE FUTURE OF INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURE

12:00 – 2:00 pm Lunch in the park

2:00 – 5:00 pm: World Agricultural Forum Convergence

5:00 – 700 pm: dinner

7:00 – 9:00 pm Closing plenary