Kudos for GMO ban
How many stars can you name? How many phases of the moon? Is the tide rising or falling? Name the birds, insects and plants that live near your home and the food crops that would grow there.
What have we lost? Where are our connections to the land, water and sky that show us how to breed plants adapted to local conditions, rotate crops, reduce pests and disease by planting a variety of crops, use plants that repel pests, etc.
We’ve lost our connections partly because of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs promise quick fixes and big profits but slowly destroy connections and the foundations of life.
Troubling studies show GMOs impact the health of humans, animals and even vital organisms in the soil. GMO pollen drift can contaminate neighbors’ crops and shut down organic, sustainable farming.
GMOs can spread until they are unstoppable, like albizias, mongooses and coqui frogs. Seed-sharing builds connections … but if you share GMO seeds, you can be sued by multi-million-dollar corporations.
If banning GMOs is a mistake, it’s easy to undo. But if allowing GMOs is a mistake, that may be impossible to undo.
Many mahalos to Mayor Billy Kenoi and our County Council for making the difficult but wise decision to ban further GMOs on Hawaii Island.
Hard to sustain
Mr. Kenoi has become an advocate for the group of anti-GMOers who make many statements regarding the safety, nutritional value and cross-pollination affects of GMO products, but WHERE IS THE PROOF, Mr. Kenoi? There is zero proof of any unsafe, unhealthy GMO products, which have been approved by the FDA and USDA.
Organic pesticides are just as lethal as anything from Monsanto, Mr. Kenoi … and to be limiting students to just organic farming methods is beyond hypocritical.
There is no direction in any food selection … only organic, which has not been proven to be more nutritional than GMO, nor is it more sustainable. Look at the coffee beetle borer if you need a lesson on the fallacies of organic, non-GMO.
Food sustainability in future years is IMPOSSIBLE with only organic methods. The 2008 council could have made it correct but they dropped the ball big time, and now the coffee producers are paying the price for inept politicians, of which there is an abundance in Hawaii.
Organic is more costly than GMO with no proven extra benefits. The lack of proof and here-say testimony will not prevail in a court of law and if it does, Hawaii is indeed “a special place.”
Millions of us have eaten GMO products for years and survived very nicely.