May 23rd is fast approaching, bringing with it an international day of misinformation with the annual March Against Monsanto. The MAM movement began in 2013 as a grassroots response to the failure of California proposition 37, a ballot initiative that would have required labeling of foods made with genetically engineered ingredients. MAM has since evolved into a full-blown promoter of conspiracy theories ranging from chemtrails to anti-vax, to “big pharma is withholding cancer treatments” varieties. Backed by the organic industry, and with visions of syringe-laden tomatoes and cackling corporate bigwigs dancing menacingly in their heads, hundreds of thousands of concerned protesters gather around the world to march.

Issues surrounding food incite passion. Food traverses all of our lives, across culture, science, politics, land use, nutrition, genetics, health and history. But because food is so important to prosperity, the claims made about it must be carefully scrutinized. March Against Monsanto doesn’t carefully scrutinize claims. The organization’s mission statement is a collection of false claims and conspiratorial leanings, and the group actively encourages extremist dialogue. Instead of saving people from poison, it is poisoning the debate about our food. We’ve allowed MAM to spout out such misinformation for long enough. Unchecked, this denialism threatens the advancement of technologies with the potential to provide real solutions to help feed an ever-growing population while preserving our resources.