HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271.285 2012-2014 COUNTY CLERK
July 2, 2013 COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
RECEIVED
To: Hawai'I County Council Dote By
�te �-2-��
From: Terri Cabreros
Re: Testimony in support of Bill 79 Banning GMO in Hawai'I County
Council chair and members,
Born and raised here and a resident of Hawaiian Paradise Park, I am here as a
neighbor, wife, mother and grandmother and I support Bill 79 because I am very
concerned about our island and the health and safety of our people.
Monsanto lied about PCB's, DDT and Agent Orange, toted them as being safe yet their
use resulted in the injuring and killing of hundreds of thousands of people; and they
want us to believe their Roundup Ready GMO seeds and crops are safe for human
consumption?
They created new organisms that were not a part of the evolutionary process; not by
natural arrangement, but in a laboratory, and this isn't something we shouldn't be
concerned about?
Nature itself puts up defenses to avoid this from happening and along comes man
doing the very opposite of what nature protects itself from and we shouldn't be
concerned about this in any way?
Our land...our soils were here long before we were...life-giving, enriched, fertile soils;
growing food for the inhabitants, without chemicals.
The sugar cane industry came in, displaced the taro and banana plantations, causing
environmental degradation, air and water pollution, and then left!
The weed killer Atrazine, was used regularly in the fields and two decades later, is
still contaminating our water supply and our soil.
With organically grown seeds and crops we know what we're eating and what it'll do
to our bodies and our health.
I would allow my daughters and my granddaughter to eat a carrot right out of the
ground...or an orange right off the tree and know it will be good for them.
Comm. No. ° 7/. .2 8
Ref. To: P PSfi1,��C.
Ref. Dote JUL Z 2013
Can you say the same for a garden with GM crops or vegetables and fruits sprayed
with pesticides and insecticides? Would you let your children or grandchildren run
through those fields?
Twenty years ago, if someone we knew had cancer, it was a shock. Today it's almost
as common as a cold.
Cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, infertility, ADHD,
allergies and a host of new diseases are increasing at an alarming rate.
People are sick and dying and we can no longer ignore or deny the possibilities or
causes. We need to see and make the connection.
It is a well-known and well documented fact that Monsanto has not followed proper
protocol in the research and testing of its genetically modified seeds and crops.
They have taken shortcuts at the expense of the human race.
With severe weather conditions affecting our world as well as earthquakes and
unusual international geopolitical changes upon us, there may very well come a time
when we will be cut completely off from the mainland.
How are we going to keep sustainability going and feed our people if our soils are
poisoned? Our land needs healing as well as our people��rvpM t>d tAtAt.
Conscience is defined as the inner sense of what is right or wrong, impelling one
toward right action.
I'm appealing to your conscience in asking you to support Bill 79.
We need to learn from Monsanto's as well as our past, apply what we've learned to
our present or there will be no future.
Submitted by:
Terri Cabreros
HC 3 Box 4669
Keaau, HI 96749
Phone: 966-8927
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WHEN I SAY "FARMER", WHICH
IMAGE COMES TO MIHDP
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MO1iJU SCI #1: SA 'ETV
EMPLOYEES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LET
CHEMICALS TOUCH THEIR SKIN....
BUT THEY DON'T MIND US EATING IT.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: HOW MONSANTO IS
TURNING A HAWAIIAN ISLAND INTO A PETRI DISH
COMPLETE WITH HUMAN LAB RATS
Posted by: Daisy Luther I on June 13, 2013
If just for a day our king and queen would visit
all these islands and saw everything. How
would they `bout the changing of our land.
Tears would come from each others eyes as
they would stop to realize that our people are
yob - in great, great danger now
as _
UA MAU KE EA 0 KA AINA I KA PONO O
.-, HAWAII
IMUA MOLOKAI! IMUA OAHU! IMUA MAUI!
IMUA KAUA'I! IMUA HAWAII!
If you ever wondered what results a controlled experiment of Monsanto farming methods would
yield, look no further than the unwilling residents of Molokai. Until 1969, by fact of its geographical
isolation, Molokai was home for over 100 years to a leper colony. With the arrival of Monsanto's test
fields, the beautiful island has become a laboratory and the islanders are being treated as the lab
rats.
The island of Molokai looks like paradise. Travel brochures call it the "old Hawaii" and the most
Hawaiian of the islands in the archipelago. It has a small population of between 5500-7500
residents. It is covered in waterfalls, rainforests, and rolling hills, and the island exudes a unique
lush green atmosphere.
Amidst this wild tropical beauty, Death has come to the island. Death arrived, hidden like lethal
warriors in a Trojan horse, beneath a shiny veneer of jobs and prosperity for the islanders, most of
which turned out to be false promises.
1850 acres of the island has been planted with Monsanto's Bt corn.
Workers wear head to toe protective gear during spraying, including respirators.
Nearby residents, however, are not provided with such equipment and have no option but to
breathe in the toxic dust that comes from the fields. C1149 ie N,() C t cE
The State Health Department has said that there is no proof genetically modified crops are
dangerous to the people of Hawaii or any place where they've been tested.
The people of Molokai tell a different story.
They tell the same story that the people of India told when Monsanto invaded their cotton
fields.
They tell the same story the farmers of Argentina told when Monsanto polluted their tobacco
fields with Roundup.
Many Molokai residents have been suspicious of Monsanto since the beginning. Walter Ritte, a
Molokai resident, said, "We have concerns. These concerns have been pushed under the rug, and
everything that's being grown is a big secret. Nobody is telling us anything. We're afraid for our
health, we're afraid for our children's health, the cornfields surround our town. Well what is a GMO,
what is going on?"
In November 2005, Monsanto executives paid lip service with a town meeting with concerned
residents of Molokai. Ray Foster, the research general manager of Monsanto-Hawaii, said, "We're
very proud of what we do, and we welcome the questions. We've been planting biotech's products
now for 10 years. We've planted over a billion acres, and so there hasn't been one case of harm to
people or the environment." (Source: Island Breath)
The state health department agrees with Monsanto executives that there is no problem at
all. Statistics for cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, respiratory problems, neurological issues, and
skin disease on the island are not easily found.
Much has been discussed about the dangers of consuming GMOs. But what about the farming
practices themselves? There are serious environmental concerns and human health hazards that
relate to the toxic chemcials and the "drift"from Monsanto's fields.
Monsanto likes to say that Roundup (glysophate) has a low level of toxicity and that is the reason it
is their pesticide of choice. A report by Thanal.con (an India-based Research, Advocacy,
Education and Action Trust)explains how this"low toxicity" is damaging human and animal health:
As the acute toxicity— reflected in the WHO classification of glyphosate is low, it has long been
promoted as safe. However, recent evidence shows substantial adverse health and environmental
effects, especially of the formulated products.
The marketed formulations of glyphosate, such as Roundup, contain adjuvants (accessory
chemicals), usually 50-60 percent, added to enable the active ingredient to work more effectively.
There is mounting evidence that the adjuvants are more toxic than glyphosate and/or potentiate its
toxic effects. Publicly available information about the nature of these chemicals is incomplete
because adjuvants are treated as proprietary secrets by the manufacturer. One major known agent
used e.g. in Roundup is `POEA'.
Although glyphosate itself shows low acute toxicity, serious poising effects such as severe eye
irritation and injury, skin and respiratory problems, and damage to lung tissue have been recorded
with formulated products—probably due to the presence of POEA. Farm workers exposed to
Roundup, e.g. by eye rubbing, has been reported to "have caused swelling of eye and lid, rapid
heartbeat and elevated blood pressure. Other reported effects of POEA are: vomiting, diarrhoea,
haemolysis (destruction of red blood cells), altered mental status, and pulmonary oedema; ingestion
can cause in addition pharyngitis, abdominal pain, liver and renal damage, and erosions of the
oesophagus, oropharynx, and stomach.
Recent experiences and studies show a wide range of long-term adverse health effects, again
mostly related to formulated products, such as leukaemia and other cancers, skin diseases, and
birth defects, gastrointestinal problems, and alterations to the central nervous system. Other findings
link glyphosate and especially formulations with affecting embryo development, damage cells and
DNA, and interrupting the hormone system. In addition, POEA contains dioxin, which causes cancer
and damage to the liver and kidneys in humans. A new study found adverse effects of four
glyphosate-based herbicides on human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells at dilution
levels far below agricultural recommendations, corresponding to low levels of residues in food or
feed.
Although the only evidence on Molokai is anecdotal, the case for chemical drift causing myriad
health problems is strong. A landmark case in France last year found Monsanto "guilty" when a
French farmer successfully sued the mega-corporation for effects sustained after he inhaled
Monsanto's "Lasso" weed-killer: he suffered neurological problems including memory loss,
headaches and stammering. Victories like this are rare, however, because no matter how numerous
the complaints, the company generally is not held accountable.
Evidence is slowly increasing as independent studies take place. Sayer Ji of Green Med Info just
released an article with evidence of the link between breast cancer and Round-up. "An alarming
new study finds that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller, is estrogenic and
drives breast cancer cell proliferation in the parts-per-trillion range."
What's happening in Hawaii isn't my story to tell. It means more when it comes directly from
residents of Molokai...those who are under siege in this chemical warfare waged by Monsanto, on
the island many of them have called home for generations. The quotes without sources are taken
directly from emails by people who wish to remain anonymous, because they fear retaliation for
speaking out.
"Native Hawaiians have the highest health issues in the islands and this little island we have so little
resources for ourselves that we have to malama, care for, those resources and we have to look at
not only today but for tomorrow's people, the children...I have also heard about people in [Manilla]
Camp having different types of health issues, which they've never had before, things which doctors
can't describe what causes them. It's a scary thing to deal with, something you don't know enough
about." (suu ., )
"We moved from Maui to Molokai 2 years ago. To be with our grandkids. About 2 months after
moving in, I broke out with a bloody rash...I went to the local hospital, they gave me two shots,
would not tell me what it was. Went back no record of me being there."
"Our daughter lost a baby here...many have...I buried the fetus myself."
"It felt like we were being violated by the scientific community. For the Hawaiian community, taro is
not just a plant. It's a family member. It's our common ancestor`Halos .... They weren't satisfied with
just taking our land; now they wanted to take our mana, our spirit too." ( )
"My wife got a huge tumor right breast. I began to seek the reasons. Right next to us, upwind, was
an X crop, they spray bio chemicals as you know. After she got the cancer, many women came to
our home, showing her they had lost their breasts it was then I realized, the rate here per capita
is very high."
"Toxic red dust storms from biotech fields on Molokai and West Kaua'i are linked to making people
extremely sick–especially children. On Kaua'i, communities living near biotech fields in Waimea
have a particularly high cancer rate." (
"The first crops snuck in 26 years ago, AB corn. Now, God only knows what their doing, but the
weeds are immune to round up now, and they hired people to shoot our deer if they enter the fields."
"I'm marching today because of the pesticides that these companies use and the inability to keep
them on their own fields. People want proof and the proof is in the people. We have a lot of sick
people on this island —cancer, diabetes, ADHD, asthma— all these things are side effects of
pesticides. People are putting the dots together. If you do a little bit of your homework you can see
the clear connection between pesticide use and all these ailments, this is a sick island." (source)
This isn't an experiment on the other side of the world. This is happening right now, on American
soil. Today, an American has no choice but to breathe in air with a toxic particle that may go rogue
when it enters her body, resulting in a cancerous tumor, a miscarriage, or some other illness. That
particle is created or released, not unknowingly, by Monsanto. There is no way to contain things like
pollen or chemical sprays. Those who live downwind of these fields are helpless to avoid the poison
being released into the air and into the groundwater.
If you haven't heard about the plight of the islanders, you aren't alone. In researching this article, I
was hard-pressed to find any media coverage that was not based in Hawaii. Americans are crying
out for help...but no one is listening. Their pleas are going unheard because there is an insidious
collusion— in the government, in the media, and in the biotech industry. No one wants to believe
that in this day and age, "someone"wouldn't stop Monsanto. Many will read this and be incredulous,
doubtful that such a thing could go on here in America. But it's happening. Today it's happening in
Hawaii. Tomorrow, it might be in the field downwind from you.
Monsanto writes its own laws—that became clear with the passing of the Monsanto Protection rider,
if it wasn't obvious already. There is a revolving door between Monsanto, Washington DC, the FDA
and the USDA, not to mention connections with the Supreme Court. There is a blatant money trail
between Monsanto and many of the lawmakers in the US. Other countries' governments have said
"no" to Monsanto and other biotech firms, but the US does not. The US government is in clear
collusion with the biotech industry, and they don't even try to hide it.
Think about the notoriety of Joseph Mengele, who was reported to have performed horrific,
gruesome experiments on human beings in World War II concentration camps. We look back in
horror at the stories of those stomach turning experiments, unable to comprehend how things so
awful could be true. But the people of Molokai are living in an equally callous science project right
now. Is it really any different than these experiments that were labeled as "war crimes"?Any person
who has the misfortune to live near a Monsanto field is being subjected daily to toxins that have
caused massive illnesses and deaths elsewhere in the world. They are breathing it, eating it, and
drinking it. Some people are able to resist the toxins, but many others are not. They are developing
tumors and respiratory problems. They are having to have body parts removed because of cancer.
Their skin is covered with bloody sores. Their children are born dead or with birth defects. When do
we say that this is a crime? When do we insist that the cover-up of the medical statistics
cease? When do we hold Monsanto responsible?
Make no mistake, we are the lab rats in a giant experiment, and the mad scientists are Monsanto.
Thank you to the people who trusted me with their stories, especially to RC.
I hope that I have honored you in the sharing of them. —D
- See more at: http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/crimes-aqainst-humanity-how-monsanto-is-turning-
a-hawaiian-island-into-a-petri-dish-complete-with-human-lab-rats-
06132013#sthash.CKksDF6t.ONA9vpsC.dpuf