For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page.

If European states can ban genetically modified crops, why not America? See how global activism drove the charge against GMOs abroad-and how we can apply the same principle in the United States.

Get a group of people together to talk about the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) gobbling up American soil and, chances are, someone will bring up “what happened in Europe.”

How is it that our neighbors across the pond were able to swiftly enact mandatory labeling laws and essentially ban genetically modified (GM) crops in six European states, while here in the United States we let the biotech machine plow on? What lessons can we learn from the Europeans?

Georgina Silby has some ideas.

Silby was among the legions of infuriated youth who took to European streets upon learning about the specter of genetic engineering in the mid-’90s. These young activists donned tomato costumes (or nothing at all) for their protests by day, dug up GM test crops by night and formed alliances with stakeholders around the globe. Their efforts generated what has eluded activists here so far: Media attention and mass-market consumer outrage.