Second Day of Action: Seminis Inc. Espionage and More Flyer Distribution.

A man on a mission.

        I wanted to get an up close and personal look at Seminis Inc. so I know what to expect on the day of the protest. One may use the word espionage if they so desire it as I yes, did a sort of covert mission to gain access into their facility. I first arrived on Brunken Ave. and made my way up to the front of the office. Looking around from the outside I saw a "No Trespassing" sign and a "No weapons permitted" sign on the window and I thought - they certainly are ready for a return of rowdy activists. I looked inside and realized the place was totally desolate but I continued and pushed the door open. No one heard me come in. I looked around: just a low lite room with two smaller rooms connected, a table with some oranges in a bowl, bookshelves with ceramic statues of lettuce and corn displayed on top. Then I shouted "hello?" Some guy wearing a baseball cap and a hoodie and fumbled out of the room on the right and replied "yeah hey what's up?"
"I'm a college student and I came over here because I had some questions about Seminis; like what kind of jobs you guys have to offer and how I may apply."
"Oh yeah well we got a few jobs right now. You should check us out online, there's more information there. We're just a satellite location and subsidiary of Monsanto, I don't have too much information here."
"Sure I'll check it out. So do you guys do work on lettuce around here?"
"Yep, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, sugar beets."
"Oh nice for better resistance to spraying?"
"Yeah tolerance, we are also just working on making better varieties." The guy was friendly all and all. Though I'm sure if he knew my position on Monsanto he would have been much more aggressive. After a short conversation I said goodbye and that I'd look for more information online and walked out.
                  It was beneficial that I spoke to that Seminis employee. I didn't know lettuce was being genetically modified right here in our county and communities. It made me realize that this issue really does hit home. We aren't talking about GMO corn from the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, we're talking about the lettuce right off of highway 68. It's personal now and we can't just stand around and allow them to modify our county.

               While I was still in Salinas I took the opportunity to distribute more fliers. I went to Rollicks Coffee shop, Oldtown Booknook, and Cherry bean; very friendly and helpful people. They are places that remind you why Salinas is a wonderful little town. They are like little pockets of culture in a very industrial town.


Donating to Occupy Monsanto of Monterey

                   Thinking about donating to Occupy Monsanto of Monterey? Not sure about it yet? Consider this:

                     Local
                    When you donate to Occupy Monsanto of Monterey you are donating to a group of local activists who will use the money locally to make change on a local level. Just think, if you were to donate to a bigger global or national organization such as Greenpeace or NPR the money will go through a long complicated bureaucratic process, then when the money gets filter through all of the operating costs and employment cost there will be hardly any funds left for the cause you meant the money to go to. OMM isn't a bureaucracy; we are a grassroots group of committed activist who volunteer our own time because we want to see change today, not in 20 years.
                    Efficient
              Let's face it 20 buck to Greenpeace might as well be 20 cents, whereas donating even just a couple of dollars to OMM will have a huge impact and make it possible for us to create fliers, signs, props and other important items used for rallies. If we can spend less time worrying about how we are going to pay for our materials, we can have more time for thinking creatively and we will thus be more efficient.
                    Safety Net
                    OMM also hopes to be more aggressive than other Occupy movements. Your donation will ensure a safety net so we are able to take more risk during campaigns and protests. If we for example form a human chain around a Monsanto building and one of our protesters gets arrested we may have to pay for a bail for them. Even with non-violent direct action demonstrations these things happen and we need to be prepared for it. We would also like to hire a lawyer so we can fully know our rights and limitations.
                    Political
                    Don't believe in the power of protest? OMM will do more than just protest. We will work with the local government and businesses to install real change. Essentially, with enough funding we hope to be able to lobby and run campaigns for a Monterey government that supports reform of the food system.  
                    
Your gift can change the food system.

Thank you,
Mark Sarchet