Locals march against Monsanto -- Global protest hits San Diego

BALBOA PARK — More than 1,000 people gathered in Balboa Park Saturday to join the worldwide “March Against Monsanto,” the third annual protest against Monsanto, the multinational corporation whose products include seeds that are genetically modified to resist herbicides. Monsanto also makes Roundup herbicide.

“We’re not healthy, and what we put in our bodies should be our choice,” said attendee Ruth Westreich, president of the Westreich Foundation, which is dedicated to health and wellness issues. “We have to look out for each other as human beings. We only have one planet, and what affects you affects me.”

Marches and rallies were held in more than 420 cities across the globe, including Los Angeles, New York City, and Bordeaux, France. In San Diego, the rally started with speeches in the plaza near the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. It ended with a march across the Cabrillo Bridge and into downtown.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the St. Louis-based Monsanto touted the company’s partnerships with farmers and its goal of helping them “have a smaller impact on the environment.”

“We know people have different points of view on these topics,” the spokeswoman said in response to questions about the march. “And it’s important that they’re able to express and share them.”

The event had extra resonance in San Diego, where the city and the San Diego Unified Port District recently filed a lawsuit against Monsanto on allegations of polluting the bay with PCBs, chemicals found in everything from cable insulation to caulking and oil-based paint. They were banned in the United States in 1979.

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