HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0480.033 2010-2012 Page 1 of 2
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COUNTY CLERK
Murashige, Laura COUNTY T `*"AWA II
From: Diane Koerner[dianekoerner @yahoo.com] 2011 DEC _5 AM 8: 38
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 7:22 AM
To: counciltestimony @ co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: cohmayor @co.hawaii.hi.us; dyagong @co.hawaii.hi.us; dikeda @co.hawaii.hi.us;
jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us; donishi @co.hawaii.hi.us; fblas @co.hawaii.hi.us;
bsmart @co.hawaii.hi.us; bford @co.hawaii.hi.us; apilago @co.hawaii.hi.us;
phoffman @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Communication 480 on Dec. 7 on GMO Labeling
I believe that our health depends on our food choices - please give us the
right to choose. Please vote for labeling of GMOs.
Is our food safe? The scientific debate about the benefits and risks of
genetically engineered crops will continue for a long time. Meanwhile, an
entire generation will have grown up consuming them. We should all have
the right to participate - or not - in this sweeping experiment with our bodies
and our environment.
Please vote to label GE foods as we have a right to know what we are
eating. The FDA does no GMO safety testing on its own. Instead, they
allow companies like Monsanto, who told us that their DDT, PCBs, and
Agent Orange was safe, to determine if their GMOs are safe. Internal FDA
documents revealed that the agency's own scientists warned of serious
health risks, and urged long-term testing — but were denied. Now many
doctors prescribe non-GMO diets, citing serious health disorders in lab
animals fed GMOs. Don't make us into lab animals — please, please vote to
label GE foods!
For the past 20 years, Americans have been denied their basic right to
know because of a flawed regulatory system that has relied on corporate
science without adequate peer-reviewed testing and scientific oversight.
Recent polling has shown that 93% of Americans support mandatory
labeling of GMOs.
Already more than 40 countries around the world require labeling of foods
that contain GMOs. While Americans who live in the "land of the free" have
no idea what's in their food, citizens in Australia, Brazil, the European
Union, Japan, Russian and even China have the legal right to know. We
also want the right to know — GMO soy and corn are two of the most
prevalent GM foods in the US food supply, and both have been linked to
potentially serious health effects. Q�
Comm. No °`"33
Ref. To: riCAOL41'LU!
Ref. Date DEC n 7 2f tl
12/5/2011
Page 2 of 2
For example, one Brazilian study in 2009 discovered that female rats fed
GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and
reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised
without soy. This finding adds to a mounting body of evidence suggesting
that GM foods can contribute to a number of reproductive disorders.
GM corn accounts for about 88% of the corn grown in the United States. The
safety of GM corn recently came under scrutiny again when Bt toxin, which is
present in many GM crops, was shown in a new study to be in human blood!
Bt toxin makes crops toxic to pests, but industry has claimed that the toxin
poses no danger to the environment or human health because the protein
breaks down in the human gut. The presence of the toxin in human blood is
evidence that this is yet another false assertion that doesn't hold up under
closer scrutiny. The GM insecticide toxin is also showing up in fetal blood,
which means it could have an impact on future generations.
Don't be prey to industry lobbyists - please give us the right to choose.
Please vote for labeling of GMOs.
Mahalo,
Diane Koerner
14-5027 Kapoho Beach Rd.
Pahoa, HI 96778
808-965-9519
12/5/2011