ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
will be one of the major themes at
Biodevastation 7: A Forum on Environmental Racism, World Agriculture and
Biowarfare
May 16 – 18, 2003, St. Louis, Missouri, www.biodev.org
Mark Mitchell, M.D., Director, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice
Michael Hansen, Ph.D., Research Associate, Consumer Policy Institute
Stan Williams, Coordinator, Seeds For Survival (Vancouver, B.C.)
[Others TBA]
The panel “Environmental Racism and Genetic Engineering” will be at 7:30 pm,
Saturday, May 17. It will link struggles for justice and healthy communities
with threats posed by genetic technologies. The panel will bring together
people who work on environmental justice advocacy with those who work on
genetic engineering (GE) in agriculture and human genetic technologies. It
will be a unique opportunity to discuss how genetic technologies may pose a
hazard to the health of people of color and low-income people, and how the
technologies are being used to discriminate against and exploit communities
of color.
The goals and applications of all technologies need to be examined for their
effects on diverse communities. The track record of Monsanto illustrates how
corporations are able to function in a society that accepts environmental
racism, leaving many without adequate protection against polluters.
Dr. Mark Mitchell, founding president of the Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental Justice, has spent nearly 20 years working in the public health
sector on struggles for environmental justice. Dr. Mitchell has spent the
past five years educating communities on effects of the environment on
health. Working primarily with people of color and low-income people, he
teaches what can be done to prevent and reduce the disproportionately higher
rates of disease in their communities. As a physician specializing in
epidemiology and public health he will outline some of the major
environmental health threats for communities of color and how communities
have successfully fought for their rights to safe and healthy environments.
Dr. Michael Hansen is a scientist with the Consumer Policy Institute who has
worked with African governments’ pressured by the US to accept GE food as
“food aid.” The US government argues that it has regulated GE foods for
safety and that governments across the developing world should therefore
accept them. Dr. Hansen has played an important role of providing information
on the weaknesses of US regulations and health hazards to African government
officials. He has witnessed US pressure tactics since he also participates in
international food safety negotiations (Codex) where richer governments use
bullying tactics to force their positions.
Dr. Hansen is also concerned with the use of recombinant Bovine Growth
Hormone (rBGH). His expertise on the health impacts of rBGH was an important
part of the successful struggle in Canada against its approval. There could
be particular problems with consumption of GE foods in low income communities
and communities of color by those who already face multiple health threats.
Stan Williams is the coordinator of an indigenous youth organization called Seeds
For Survival, based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. His group is working in local
communities to develop strategies for local indigenous food sovereignty.
Additional presenters to be announced.
The panel presentation will open up important issues for discussion and
strategizing that will continue in workshops and other panels throughout the
weekend.
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. www.worldagforum.com or
314-771-8576
