Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Keri Kaneshiro and I <br /> am a kumu at Kanu o ka `Aina New Century Public Charter School. In the mission <br /> statement of our school, it is stated that the surrounding environment become our <br /> living learning laboratories, where students and community work together to create a <br /> future that is pono- everything that is good and right from a Hawaiian perspective." This <br /> is why we are here today, to ask you to support bill S.B.958 S.D.1 H.D.I to impose a ten <br /> year moratorium on the development, "testing, propagating, cultivating, growing, and <br /> raising of genetically modified taro in the State of Hawaii's." <br /> There are many different reasons why this moratorium should be imposed. Some <br /> of the reasons why this moratorium should be put instated is that <br /> <br /> -"developing, testing, propagating, cultivating, growing, and raising genetically <br /> modified taro" is not pono. <br /> -The Hawaiian people believe that the kalo is their elder brother, Haloa, whom <br /> has sustained and nourished his people from the beginning of time. <br /> - Bill Freese, a science policy analyst for the Washington-based Center for Food <br /> Safety, an environmental advocacy group, told the Honolulu Advertiser that <br /> "Nationwide, genetic engineering could pose a threat to crops because it could <br /> cause allergies and create new toxins in foods," Mr. Freese was also quoted as <br /> saying in the April 3`d, 2007 article that "This is a radical new technology that's <br /> nothing like traditional breeding... It's a very imprecise technology that can have <br /> lots of unintended effects." <br /> Do we really want to put the health and well-being of our future children on the <br /> line, just so that we can see what happens when the kalo is genetically modified? Is <br /> playing God really what we want to do? How sure can the scientist be that the modified <br /> kalo will not be mixed in with other kalo and therefore contaminate the ancient Hawaiian <br /> varieties of kalo? Will our bodies be able to handle the new proteins that are created in <br /> the modified kalo? How is genetically modifying the kalo pono? <br /> <br /> Please support this bill and place a 10 year moratorium on the "developing, <br /> testing, propagating, cultivating, growing, and raising genetically modified taro." Thank <br /> you for your time and consideration Mr. Chairman and members of the County Council. <br /> <br /> Sincere , <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Ke Kaneshiro <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Comm. No. O ospa <br /> Ref. To: 41 <br /> Ref. Date N 2 4 200$ - <br />