“Monsanto’s predatory business and corporate agricultural practices threaten their generation’s health, fertility and longevity,” March Against Monsanto founder Tami Monroe says, explaining that the idea for the global protest was due to concerns for her two daughters’ health and well being. According to the event’s website, ‘GMOs have now been at least partially banned by Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Peru, South America, Russia, France, Switzerland and Costa Rica, and are currently labeled in 62 countries.’

*All images have been reprinted without permission and were obtained from each city’s March Against Monsanto Facebook page. We apologize and thank the individual owners for their use.

Ann Arbor, MI

During last year’s March Against Monsanto, protester Kryssi Jones was the only known demonstrator arrested by police in an American city. That statistic alone illustrates that unlike most mass demonstrations, the March Against Monsanto truly is a peaceful, family-friendly protest. After Saturday’s march, Jones reported, “Ann Arbor had about 1,300 attendees and despite being denied a permit, our march was extremely successful with zero police incidents.”

Stockholm, Sweden

March organizer Gela Amini in Stockholm, Sweden reported a phenomenally successful and positive demonstration this weekend. “Well over 1,500 Stockholm attendees gathered outside of the Swedish Royal Palace to march against Monsanto,” Gela reported, “The march lasted over an hour and concluded with everything from a trampoline for the children, organic face painting, organic fruit, purified water, goodie bags, etc., all free of course.”

Quito, Ecuador

In one of the only nations on Earth with the courage to stand up to the global shadow government, Ecuador also energetically participated in this year’s March Against Monsanto. Currently sheltering WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange in its UK embassy and being the rare country to unofficially offer US whistleblower Edward Snowden sanctuary, Ecuador is a shining example of freedom in an upside down world.

Local march organizer Josh Castro told media outlets, “Ecuador is such a beautiful place, with the richest biodiversity in the world. We will not allow this Garden of Eden to be compromised by the destructive practices of multinational corporations like Monsanto. Monsanto’s harmful practices are causing soil infertility, mono-cropping, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, and contributing to beehive collapse.”

Los Angeles, CA

In LA, march organizer Alissa Kokkins reported, “This year, March Against Monsanto Los Angeles hosted an urban garden fest and unpermitted march through Hollywood where we did outreach, guerrilla gardening, and stopped at various Monsanto hot spots.” Those hotspots, according to Kokkins, included McDonald’s, Ralph’s, Starbucks, Hollywood High School and even the US Army Recruiting center.

Atlanta, GA

In Atlanta, local march organizer Maya Morrow celebrated a fun and successful protest remarking, “We came, we saw, we caused a ruckus, and we conquered! These college students drove up from small towns in middle Georgia. A family of five, including an 8-year-old and two teenagers all marched together. Rich and poor, city and country folks, millennials and baby boomers, farmers, executives, students and full-time moms all marched today as one. How awesome is that?”

Chicago, IL

Unusually beautiful weather in the Windy City made for large turnout for this year’s March Against Monsanto. Local organizers reported on Facebook, “We again had a large family friendly group of moms, dads, kids, individuals, friends, etc., all joining to pull back the curtain and expose Monsanto’s reprehensible role in destroying our natural world, destroying our health, our food, our family farmers, etc. We had a sea of people and a few companion animals too with their signs, a huge 1,000-strong collage of colorful signage and banners, along with wonderful speakers, caterpillars, butterflies and many bees, including some Chicago Bees pollinating the crowd with flyers about Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.”

St. Louis, MO

Home of the Monsanto corporation, St. Louis saw a festive family-friendly gathering that included hundreds of marchers of all ages. Fortunately, there was no violence, as local authorities seemed to bring out the riot police, literally. Assembled government forces included dozens of armed police, an armored vehicle and a police helicopter that reportedly hovered overhead during the entire demonstration.

*Again, thank you to the owners of the above individual pictures for their use. For more information about the 2014 March Against Monsanto, visit March-Against-Monsanto.com.