HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271.622 2012-2014 Good morning, My name is bowie simon and I have lived and farmed in
kona for the past 35 years, This Batt e we are having here in hawai over
GM foods and farming is being repeated a hundred times over across the
USA as we talk. With growing awareness of the health dangers of GMO
food products, every day, more of the vvcr.d is resisting corporate giants in
their maneuvers to dominate the agricultural and food product industries.
The tide is tuming.peopie are pissed off and standing up to fight back
because every day, there is new independent scientific research that
disproves tne junk science from scientists hired, paid and controlled by
Monsanto and the other biotech giants who lied when they said GM foods
were safe.
I see the threat from GMO foods and seeds are in 2 main areas._
First, there is a serious threat to the health of people eating GM foods and
the health of our ecosystem from farming GM crops
I just want to mention one small part of the research done on animals
eating GM foods. The infant mortality rate of newborn rats whose mothers
were fed GMO foods increased from approximately 10 percent to more
than 50 percent, with the in the GMO test group. Most' of the offspring
were dead "within three weeks of birth.
If effects even a fraction of toiis size were to happen to 2 and 3
generations of people consuming GM foods this would be a threat to all of
humanity. Is this a risk you want to take? Is this a research program you
want to volunteer for?
The FDA's own scientists had repeatedly warned that GM foods can
create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects, including allergies, toxins,
new diseases, and nutritional problems. These FDA scientists urged
long-term safety studies, but were ignored. Those studies need to be
done before we can say GM foods are safe
To me, the big danger of GM seeds is their ability to contaminate the
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genes of other non GM seeds being grown in surrounding areas. Corn is
a major food crop grown today so lets look at corn for a minute. There
exists today. a huge genetic repository of corn varieties, thousands of
varieties, grown by farmers, for tens of thousands of years who always
saved their own seeds. These farmers have selected the best seeds to
save, the ones that had insect resistance. drought tolerance. high yields.
great flavor and other desirable traits Years of testing and selecting and
retesting their corn seeds has Fed to the accumulation of an enormous
library of corn varieties that breeders can and have used to make corn
more nutritious, more drought hardy. and improve yields thru traditional
breeding methods.
It is impossible to control the spread of GM pollen as we found out with GM
papaya seeds, The ikely contamination of this genetic repository of corn
DNA by pollen from GM corn stands to wipe out a price ess resource that
took thousands of years to develop and is of incalculable value to
humanity. But in a quest to make sure corn farmers cant save their own
seed. monsanto is going to destroy this resource. and instead of having to
pay for the damage they cause they intend to reap huge profits for a few
years selling their seeds while destroying any chance corn farmers have
to ever breed new varieties of seeds they can save, plant and improve year
after year.
The same goes for papayas here in hawaii. The spread of GM papaya
pollen has wiped out all the varieties local farmers have grown here for
years, They all were contamimated with GM papaya pollen. Even the
supposed GM free seed the university of hawaii sells was found to be
contaminated with GM pollen.
Having seeds with a high degree genetic resistance to disease, drought
and other positive traits of biodiversity is critical for our species survival in
times of extreme climate change Because of this. GM seeds are an
obvious threat to food security for the planet.
If genetically modified food products were affordable and safe for both the
environment and the consumer there might be no problem with GMO
farming in hawa;i. However that is not the case. As with any scientific
technology, there is always a cost./ benefit analysis that needs to be cone.
There are numerous studies of health risks of GMOs coupled with
the inadequacy of answers to these diverse criticisms, Of course
there are some that see jobs and other economic benefits weighing
against the risks. All these farmers protesting today against this bill
dont realize they are at high risk of contracting cancers from the
chemicals they use daily as well as the GM foods they eat.
The demand for non gm food is huge and growing daily Lots of
opportunities exist for smart farmers and ranchers to jump on. There are
plenty of ranchers and farmers on this is and who are smart enough not to
allow themselves to be paid pennies and then used by the biotech giants.
These smart farmers and ranchers are going to create lots of new jobs and
boost the economy of this island if you pass this bill
The earth is not flat, we are responsible for causing global warming,
and unregulated GMO farming is too risky to allow in hawaii.
I urge you to vote for jobs and a clean safe environment in Hawaii. and
pass this legislation Thank you