The Future of Food series of movies will be shown in three different Pima County Public Libraries at 2 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays from May 6 to May 20, 2017. The free film and education series is presented in partnership by the Pima County Public Library, the Pima County Library Seed Library, Food Conspiracy Co-op, Toxin-Free Pima County Coalition, and GMO Free Arizona. Each movie will include a post-film discussion.

The first movie in the series is The Future of Food, which will be shown this Saturday, May 6, at the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library in Marana. A post-film discussion will take place with Going Against GMOs author Melissa Diane Smith, farmer Anne Loftfield of High Energy Agriculture, and Nurse Janay Young.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

My next presentation is “The Future of Pima County’s Food and Environment” this Saturday, April 29, at 2 pm at the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library, 7800 N. Schisler Drive (just west of I-10). This special event will be the first educational event to take place in Marana about the major food and environmental issues facing Marana, Avra Valley, and Tucson, Arizona: genetically modified foods; pesticides; and Monsanto.

A lot of news has come out about Monsanto and its weed killer Roundup at such a dizzying pace this year that you may not have been able to keep track of all the information. My presentation this Saturday will help get you up to speed. In addition, if you are new to the topics of GMOs and pesticides or simply need to know more than you currently know, this event may help fill in the gaps in your knowledge. As a health journalist, holistic nutritionist, and author of Going Against GMOs, I will give an in-depth, yet easy-to-understand presentation that covers the most important information you need to know.

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by Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against GMOs

Starting on Earth Day (April 22) and running into May, our cohesive group of citizens who oppose Monsanto in Pima County – now known as the Toxin-Free Pima County Coalition, a chapter of GMO Free Arizona – will hold a series of educational events in Tucson and Marana.

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Call to Action This Week: Tell the Pima Community College Board Members and the Marana Unified School District Board Members to Say No to Monsanto!

by Melissa Diane Smith

After Monsanto dropped its bid to get a tax break from Pima County, a quartet of women—Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt and GMO Free Arizona co-founder Rachel Linden along with farmer Anne Loftfield and Going Against GMOs author Melissa Diane Smith—held several successful events: a Stand Up Against Monsanto Public Forum on February 19 and a Rally and Press Conference before a dozen or so powerful statements were made at the Board of Supervisors meeting on February 21. Supervisor Richard Elias, who has spoken out against Monsanto since the beginning, also spoke at the rally. You can see some of the coverage of these events at the following links:

GMO Free Arizona Rallies Against Monsanto on Tucson News Now TV

Speakers at the Say No to Monsanto Rally on Feb. 21 before the Board of Supervisors Meeting

Although Monsanto dropped the payment in lieu of taxes (tax break) proposal, it is still expected to apply for a foreign trade zone status. Receiving foreign trade zone status would give Monsanto advantages we do not want it to have, so we need to generate massive public input against Monsanto’s application being approved. We will reveal more details about how to oppose as soon as Monsanto files its application.

We have two big Calls to Action this week—not to the Board of Supervisors, but to governing boards of two educational institutions in Pima County. The Pima County supervisors’ involvement in Monsanto’s foreign trade zone application is off the table now, but both the Pima Community College Governing Board and the Marana Unified School District are still considering options having to do with Monsanto. That means we need to write these board members or speak to them in person at their board meetings this week.

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by Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against GMOs

In a stunning development at the beginning of grassroots Week of Action Against Monsanto campaign in Tucson, Arizona, Monsanto dropped its bid for a tax break from Pima County. See this report.

The news is a victory for Pima County taxpayers whose tax dollars won’t be used to support what has often been dubbed the most evil corporation in the world. But Monsanto said it still plans to build its greenhouse in Avra Valley without tax help. That means grassroots opposition to Monsanto continues and will simply enter a new phase.

If you’d like to know why so many people don’t trust Monsanto, don’t miss a wonderful opportunity this weekend to learn from nationally known non-GMO activist Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, who has special knowledge about Monsanto. Honeycutt will be the featured speaker covering the latest news on Glyphosate (Roundup) testing, the Monsanto Tribunal at the Hague, and Monsanto shareholder meetings at a Stand Up Against Monsanto Lecture and Public Forum from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. this Sunday, February 19, 2017 at the Oro Valley Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive.

I, farmer Anne Loftfield, and Rachel Linden of GMO Free Arizona will be additional speakers at the event and will cover the latest news and details about Phase 2 of our opposition to Monsanto in our community. See the Facebook page about this event, and be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to get your questions answered and to learn information you won’t hear elsewhere.

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A Call to Action: Follow This Calendar to Participate in All Important Events Feb. 14 – 21, 2017

by Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against GMOs

The momentum of the movement of everyday citizens against Monsanto in Pima County has been building for months. Large, often standing-room-only crowds attended public meetings about Monsanto. Educational events have been consistently packed. A showing of SEED: The Untold Story was close to sold out – with almost 500 people! – at The Loft Cinema on Super Bowl Sunday!

Now, it all boils down to this week. Next Tuesday, February 21, the Pima County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on whether or not to give Monsanto foreign trade zone status and a tax break, and a large group of concerned citizens in concert with GMO Free Arizona have a week of action planned to say a collective NO to the supervisors about that idea.

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Bill McDorman, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and former Director of Native Seeds/SEARCH, is a key subject in the film documentary, SEED: The Untold Story, which will be showing at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway in Tucson, this Sunday, February 5th, at 2 pm — be sure to come early starting at 12:30 pm on the patio to get more information about the grassroots movement against Monsanto — and McDorman will lead a discussion following the film. Don’t miss this special event!

McDorman wrote the following letter to urge the Pima County Board of Supervisors not to support Monsanto’s application for Foreign Trade Zone status for its property in Avra Valley. Please share the letter far and wide, and encourage other leaders in organizations and businesses to write letters to the Board of Supervisors or, better yet, to attend and speak at the all-important Feb. 21 board meeting!

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