Welcome, I am your host Rachel Avery and you are listening to The Daily GRRR! In/Security Edition on 100.3fm, CKMS in Waterloo, Ontario. Soundfm.ca on the web. Today is May 28, 2014.
We are broadcasting from the centre of the Haldimand Tract, the occupied Grand River Territory of the Six Nations (Haudenosaunee).
The Daily GRRR! is a project of the Grand River Media Collective; and is supported by the Community Radio Fund of Canada and CKMS.
Today’s feature will be two interviews with anti-gentrification organisers in Vancouver, conducted by Tyson Leonard with the Vancouver Media Coop. These interviews will discuss the need for diversity in Vancouver’s anti-gentrification movement, and which structures best resist gentrification in anti-gentrification organising.
We will begin today with headlines:
The Daily GRRR! HEADLINES for May 28, 2014
1. March Against Monsanto
On Saturday, millions of people took to the streets around the world in protest of Monsanto. More than 400 demonstrations were held in 52 countries, including nearby in Brantford and Six Nations. Opposition to Monsanto stems from serious concerns including the patenting of seeds, interfering with traditional farming practices and making farmers dependent on the multinational for their seeds each year, the furthering of monocultures as Monsanto seeds replace a plethora of traditional varieties, the potential for unknown mutations to occur in genetically modified seeds, the health effects of eating genetically modified foods for which no long term studies have ever been conducted, and the potential for genetically modified crops to contaminate non-genetically modified varieties. Failures of the crops to perform as advertised also have harrowing consequences, as evidenced by the epidemic of farmer suicides in India after Monsanto’s Bt cotton failed. Youth organisers of the Brantford-Six Nations demo were quoted in the Two Row Times as saying, “Nobody is going to have control over their own food, that’s scary. If you’re concerned about your health, then you should be concerned about this corporation.”
2. Food Prospects Drying Up
Following up on a story we covered earlier, the severity of drought plaguing much of the United States has led California to implement restrictions on water use during the summer, which will affect the irrigation of farms. This is California’s third year of what officials are calling a catastrophic drought. As a result, farmers are forced to leave nearly a half million acres of land uncultivated, and some small communities are at risk of running out of drinking water. The regulations are based on a set minimum level of water in 3 watersheds surrounding the Sacramento River, which need to be maintained when fish are present. The move was met with stern opposition from farmers and others who hold rights to the water.
3. Pan Am costs soaring
New revelations about the cost of the 2015 PanAm games in Toronto are coming out from Patrick Allen, the recently-fired director of EMS and health and safety services for the games. Allen comments, “The amount of spending …read more
From: Daily GRRR