Protesters gathered in downtown Vancouver Saturday to raise their voices against genetically modified food and biotech company Monsanto.
Vancouver’s March Against Monsanto is part of an international movement to raise awareness about the health and environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food.
Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds that are engineered to resist insecticides and herbicides, add nutritional benefits or otherwise improve crop yields and increase the global food supply.
But, protesters claim genetic engineering has a devastating effect on the environment and health, and are pushing for mandatory labeling of modified products.
The march began at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 10 a.m.
Similar marches took place across Canada and around the world Saturday. The movement started earlier this year in the U.S. and similar rallies quickly became popular around the world.
Vancouver protesters held their first march in May.
Monsanto, based in St. Louis, said that it respects people’s rights to express their opinion on the topic, but maintains that its seeds improve agriculture by helping farmers produce more from their land while conserving resources such as water and energy.
With files from the Associated Press
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