HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271.438 2012-2014 OO,Tt.•TY C.7 V,,RK
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Dear Hawaii State Representatives,
Thank you for hearing my testimony.
If one were to market a product, it's clear that brand identification or labeling and all
manner of visibility is crucial to the success of that product for consumer purchase and
use.
But when we consider the labeling of GMO products in the market place, millions of
dollars however is spent by corporations such as Monsanto to PREVENT identification
of their product. In other words, they don't want you to know that you are purchasing a
GMO product.
Yet Monsanto is a corporation that also spends millions of dollars telling the world about
the "benefits" of GMO...and how GMO is the solution to all of our agricultural problems.
If that's the case, logic and common sense would dictate that labeling GMO products as
such in the market place would benefit Monsanto! In essence, it would be like free
advertising for them! Then why prevent the labeling of GMOs?
The answer of course is that Monsanto and corporations like it have something grievous
to hide.
In it's 110 year history, Monsanto (an industrial chemical company and the world's
largest seed company) is responsible for creating compounds...pollution-causing,
biologically toxic compounds such as PCBs, Agent Orange and Roundup. It has a
history of misdeeds that have been and is a detriment to humankind. And now, they are
the leading giant in the genetically engineering of crops and foods.
As a billion dollar industry, it has simply paid pennies to the dollar for its crimes. Now,
with it's current preoccupation of genetic engineering of crops and foods, Monsanto has
taken leaps and bounds to get legislation passed and other improper tactics to bypass
proper testing of its products. Even with a public that demands, at the very least
independent testing of it's products, Monsanto is bent on forcing its dubious creations
on us. And our very government that is supposed to ensure that all protocols have been
met for our safety, regarding GMOs, has simply turned a blind eye and deaf ears to our
concerns as corporate leaders and agents of our government institutions and lobbyists
of all types (including those here in Hawaii) have become collaborators in financial
gains.
Beyond the dubious safety of GMO foods and crops, corporations like Monsanto is bent
on control of our whole agriculturally system, forcing us to comply to it's system and
operation from sheer monopoly. Since Monsanto has already capitalized on
monopolizing a variety of seed crops in the world (from patenting and owning of the
same) and since it has already altered the genetics of 95% of commercial soybean and
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80% of corn, then it stands to reason that Monsanto and it's collaborators will not stop
until 100% of the world's seeds and foods are acquired.
Given this trajectory where one day in the near future it will be likely that we will no
longer have any capacity to save our own seeds, plant our own crops and control what
kinds of foods we eat, it behooves Hawaii (without delay) to ban any and all import and
activity of genetically testing, planting, creating of crops and foods in our island state.
While one day, it might happen, that the rest of the mainland will no longer have any
real natural seeds or foods, I'd like to imagine that Hawaii will be a safe house for such
an event. We will have done our duty and our responsibility to protect what is not yet
affected by genetic engineering.
When we finally understood the dire effects of certain levels of exposure to PCBs and
Agent Orange, for example, many people's lives were already lost or compromised.
PCBs alone (a chemical compound known for disrupting hormone balances,
reproductive failures, or cancer) can be found everywhere...in fish and wildlife, in the
physiology of polar bears, and in our physiology, including women and in their unborn
children. We can no longer remove it from our ecosystem, inside and out, and we can
only imagine what these trace amounts are doing to overall health.
Do we want to take the same path again with Monsanto and it's current creation and
tampering with genetic engineering...when genetic engineering is still not well
understood and is not a precise science?The mechanism of genetic engineering is to
force a particular gene onto another cell without that gene trait. The operative word is
"force". In nature, there is no force...there is only natural, compatible selection. Forcing
a particular gene into a pool of existing genome without the cells natural input is akin to
raping a woman to bear a child.
With so many people heavily invested in the debate about genetic engineering of our
foods, we can count on it of not being of something sound...and when something is not
sound, it's a red flag on the matter. This red flag on GMOs had been raised a long time
ago...what will it take for people to respond!
As representatives of this state of Hawaii, it is incumbent upon you to stop this madness
of playing Russian roulette with our food and the safety of the generations of people
who live in Hawaii today and of those generations to come.
Remember this...if GMO is supposed to be good for you as Monsanto and other
corporations like it would impress upon you, then why wouldn't they want it labelled or
identified in our food supply. What's there to hide?
Thank you,
Lino Laure