Monsanto Drops Bid for Pima County Tax Break; Campaign Against The Corporation Continues

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.

Other events during the Week of Action Against Monsanto this week include a Sign-Making Party at the Hoff Building on Saturday, February 18, from Noon to 4 pm and a Rally/Celebration downtown on Tuesday, February 21, at 8 am before the Board of Supervisors meeting at 9 am. See info about the Sign-Making Party here and info about the Rally here.

It’s satisfying to know that Monsanto isn’t going to get the tax break it wanted. But we, the community, vehemently say No to Monsanto in Pima County at all and Yes to Healthy, Safe Communities, and we want the press to know that. That’s why a press conference with that message is planned for 8:30 am at the Rally site outside of the Pima County Administration Building at 130 W. Congress Street. We have the opportunity to make signs that reflect our desire to protect Pima County from the danger Monsanto poses and to emphasize the kind of health-supporting, chemical-free food system and environment we want and deserve in Pima County! Please join us on Tuesday morning to show community support for this message at both the rally and press conference. We want Monsanto to get the message loudly and clearly that it is not welcome in Pima County.

A personal note: For everyone who attended my educational events, read my posts about this issue, spoke at Board of Supervisors and school board meetings, and helped in other ways to form such a strong grassroots opposition to a tax break for Monsanto, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks. (I’d like to hug each one of you!) The movement of people against Monsanto wouldn’t have been able to grow so quickly and wouldn’t have been able to pressure Monsanto to withdraw its tax break proposal if it weren’t for you!

I also want to thank Rachel Linden and Ariane Glazer from GMO Free Arizona plus friends at the Organic Consumers Association who worked very closely with us to help plan our Week of Action Against Monsanto campaign. My gratitude also goes to Zen Honeycutt and Tami Canal for agreeing to come to Tucson and join our opposition to Monsanto. The efforts of all of these people synergistically worked with our local efforts to help us achieve what we have been able to so far.

The great news is we won one big battle. But we will never accept Monsanto in our community, so there is more left to do. Please join us Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday as we move onto Phase 2 of our grassroots movement against Monsanto.

Copyright 2017 Melissa Diane Smith

 

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