HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271a.038 2012-2014 J Yoshimoto
From: Geoff Shaw <shaw.geoff5 @gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 11:36 AM
To: jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Bill 79
Letter to Councilpersons concerning Bill 79- https://docs.google.com/document/d/160Ccl3vHg41sfipuYlfediLfM-
bf5lipnYOJXaSsfEs/edit?usp=sharing
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Ret. UCte JUL L 0 2 2013
I received a subliminal message today to give more respect to those I underestimate and this
has prompted me to write this letter to all the members of the council. I am losing faith in all
forms of representative democracy but occasionally someone like Tulsi Gabbard gives me hope
that those we elect will actually represent the people instead of caving into corporate interests.
If your interest is in creating a mess on Hawaii Island then go ahead and vote against Bill 79
because that will most likely be the result. You saw all the impassioned testimony on the behalf
of those concerned with the future of agriculture and I guess that you think that the passion will
be quickly extinguished if you snuff out this Bill, but I can assure you it will not. The people have
spoken about GMO products on this island, very few Rainbow Papaya are sold at the stores
here on the island and even the Papaya farmers admit that to me so those who do the shopping
don't want to buy biotech products when they are aware of it. If this Bill is allowed to die there
will be no other recourse than to start to boycott the products on this island that have GMOs in
them or the producers who are trying to push GMOs on people who don't want them. Why you
would think this is a healthy way to conduct business is beyond my imagination, but I can only
believe that someone who is bought and sold by corporate interests would think that this would
be something to wish on the people of this county. The agriculture of this county will depend
on niche markets and there is no proof that these niche markets depend on GM technology
for survival, in fact they will be strengthened as people turn away from the GM products and
will be looking for alternatives. If you want to have a local sustainable agricultural economy
the only real logical start is to control the spread of GMOs and create an environment that
encourages us consumers to want to buy the locally grown product because we want to feel that
it is the finest products grown, not the concoction someone created in a laboratory so that some
corporation can get rich at the expense of everyone else.