Just hours ago, Monsanto, an overseas multinational with a horrendous public health and environmental track record made a chilling decision.

Monsanto and its allies have just announced they're suing the tiny, rural U.S. state of Vermont to stop a new law that simply requires genetically engineered foods to be labeled. In fact, the mere threat of a multi-million dollar lawsuit nearly caused the state to back off the labeling law altogether.

But Vermont is refusing to back down -- and they’re asking for our help. They're getting ready to fight back against Monsanto, and have even created a legal defense fund so people around the world can make donations to help them beat back Monsanto’s lawsuit.

The SumOfUs community is already fighting Monsanto on every front, but we need to show Monsanto now that we won't be intimidated. We won't let Monsanto bully our elected officials into submission.  People worldwide are being asked to help Vermont stand up to Monsanto, and pass comprehensive GE labelling laws in their own countries.

ACTION ALERT from SUM OF US, United States

Vermont is a small, entirely rural state with just 600,000 people. Vermont vs. Monsanto, one of the most powerful corporations in the world, is a classic David and Goliath fight.

But there’s much more at stake here than just whether GMO foods will be labeled in a single U.S. state. Vermont is actually the very first state in the U.S. to require labeling, and dozens of other states have said they will require labeling as well -- but only if Vermont’s law can survive this legal challenge.

That's why Monsanto is fighting so hard to kill GMO labeling in Vermont. If we can win here, it’ll be a huge step towards the goal of GMO labeling worldwide, and making sure consumers know what they are eating.

Monsanto has been threatening this for weeks, but it's only just filed suit through the Grocery Manufacturer's Association, a trade group of which Monsanto is a core member. And Monsanto’s legal bullying is part of a growing trend of multi-national corporations suing sovereign governments to overturn regulations they don’t like. Since the biggest corporations are larger than many countries around the world, it’s critical that citizens of the world band together to fight back.

That’s what SumOfUs is all about -- harnessing the global consumer power of our nearly 5 million members to take on corporate abuses wherever they occur. And if enough of us donate, we’ll be able to not only help out with the Vermont legal defense fund, but launch our own campaign pressuring Monsanto to end these legal attacks on our right to know what’s in our food. Can you chip in $1?

Thanks for all you do, wherever you are

Paul, Jon and the team at SumOfUs

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More information:

Vermont begins fight over GMo labeling law, CSMonitor, 13 June 2014
Lawsuit challenges Vermont's GMO labeling law, USA Today, 13 June 2014
Monsanto threatens to sue Vermont, RT, 6 April 2014 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.