July 26, 2000
		Anti-Biotech Protests in 25 American Cities Seven U.S. consumer and environmental groups held demonstrations in 25 cities on Wednesday, July 19 to urge major food manufacturers to stop using genetically-altered ingredients in their products. The organizations, which included Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety, challenged Kellogg, Campbell Soup and other food makers to test and label gene-spliced food; additionally, they called on the U.S. government to require such testing and labeling. In cities such as Chicago, Seattle, Miami and New York, protestors peacefully returned or threw away products they had purchased earlier in the day that contained genetically engineered ingredients. In Chicago, a press conference in front of A Jewel supermarket included speeches by representatives of the National Environmental Trust, the Organic Consumers Association, the Illinois Public Interest Resource Group, and Vegan Street's John Beske, speaking on behalf of Sustain, the Environmental Information group. Several local television and radio stations covered the event. Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth, said in a statement: “This is the first time that consumer, health and environmental advocates have come together as a unified front in the United States to insist on safety testing and labeling of genetically engineered foods.” In addition to the rallies, the coalition of groups unvieled the Genetically Engineered Food Alert, which is a union of concerned groups and individuals. The organization plans to collect consumer complaints, and inundate companies that allow genetically engineered ingredients into their products with letters, e-mails and phone calls. Despite a growing concern and call for it, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t currently test such foods, classifying them instead as GRAS, or generally recognized as safe. Approximately half the soybean acerage and nearly 40 percent of the corn acreage in the U.S. have been planted with gene-altered seeds. Europe and Japan have been vocal opponents of genetic engineering.