REAL Cooperative: Are We Eating Fishy Food? tour to stop in Asheville

GMO-labeling activists to make stop in Asheville on Thursday, Dec. 12 along 6,000-mile tri-coastal tour

From REAL Cooperative:

Asheville, NC – On December 12th, GMO labeling activists will stop in Asheville, NC at the French Broad Food Co-op (90 Biltmore Ave) along there cross-country 6,083-mile journey from Seattle to New York City on the “Are We Eating Fishy Food? Tri-Coastal Tour.” The tour features five mutant GMO art cars fitted with 300 pound roof-mounted sculptures that call attention to the need for labeling genetically engineered (GMO) food. After spending 2 months campaigning for the the passage of I522 in Washington State the tour began two days after the world learned that voters did not approve the Initiative that would have required labels for food that has been genetically engineered.

The cars will line up infront of the French Broad Food Co-op and host a meet-up for food activisits and conserned citizens from 3-5pm before ‘Parading’ in downtown Asheville

Food democracy activists including members of the REAL Cooperative, an Asheville based nonprofit organization, hope their second cross country tour will further activate Americans on the need for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to label GMO food as is done in 64 other countries. A video with highlights from the first cross-country tour can be found at www.AreWeEatingFishyFood.com along with background on each of the art cars.

“The Fishy Food art car fleet’s cross-country swim from Seattle to New York will get people talking about the importance of GMO labeling,” says David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, whose company supported the creation of the art cars.

The first tour visited thirteen states and nine state capitals in August in a 3,300-mile journey from Washington, DC, home of the fishy food cars, to Seattle to support Yes on 522 campaign. The new Tri-Coastal Tour will follow a complete schedule and can be found here.

“People want healthier food than what GMO food has to offer,” says Rica Madrid, coordinator of the Are We Eating Fishy Food? Tour. “You can measure the impact these educational vehicles have by the reaction and excitement they generate and the large number of shares we see in social media,” says Madrid.

Since 2011 citizen activism has pushed for information about what’s in our food. That year, the Right to Know March for GMO labeling walked 313 miles from Brooklyn, NY to the gates of the White House in Washington, DC to demand President Obama act on his promise to label GMO food.

Genetic Engineering means more herbicide. Chemical companies genetically engineer DNA from bacteria into food crops to either produce or tolerate the chemicals they sell. No long-term independent safety studies have been performed on adverse health effects of GMO eating GMOs. Overuse of pesticide creates resistant superweeds and superbugs, which leads to increased chemical application. Now chemical companies like Monsanto and Dow are engineering resistance in food crops to much more toxic weed killers like Dicamba and 2,4 D, the main ingredient in Agent Orange.

Currently 64 countries—EU nations, China, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and South Africa included—require labeling of GMOs; US consumers can currently only rely on voluntary labeling to determine whether food products have been altered through genetic engineering.

Origins of the FishyFood Cars

The first car in the Fishy Food fleet was “Poppy,” aka the Fishy Corn Car. Created in September 2011 by César Maxit and the DC51 Artist Collective, Fishy Corn accompanied the Right2Know March as a support vehicle carrying leaflets, organic snacks, and water. Fishy Corn then went to Monsanto headquarters in Creve Coeur, Missouri for the 2012 annual shareholder meeting with activist Adam Eidinger. He parked the car on the agribusiness giant’s campus and debated Monsanto’s CEO Hugh Grant on GMO labeling during the meeting. A secret video of the encounter went viral online shortly afterwards.

In January 2013, Maxit began building four more mutant cars using extensive volunteer labor from the Washington, DC artist community. Since then, Fishy Sugar Beet aka “Rooty,” Fishy Apple aka “Goldie,” Fishy Soybean aka “Soja Girl,” and Fishy Tomato aka “K-Sup” have driven across America. Collectively, the cars have been driven over 120,000 miles.

More information at: www.AreWeEatingFishyFood.com and www.REALCooperative.org.