HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0393.035 2012-2014 Testimony before the Committee on Public Safety&Mass Transit
by Jim Albertini, president of Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education and Action
Kurtistown Hawaii.
33 years farming in Kurtistown growing a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables
Testimony in Support of Bill 113
I like the direct, simply stated prohibition, but the exemptions seem way too broad with no sunset date.
The basic issue is this: Genetic engineering(GE) and Genetically Modiefied Organisms(GMOs) are
not part of the natural process. GMOs are not hybrids. Let's be clear about that. The unintended
consequences of GMOs like the consequences of global warming, may be irreparable. Given such
possibilities, it is time to practice the precautionary principle. It is the pono thing to do for people,
plants, and animals, for the land, for the water, the air, for the earth itself.
The spirituality of Native people the world over has a reverence for nature and natural processes.
There is a genuine organic interconnection of people to nature. People are not separate from nature. It is
realized when we destroy nature we destroy ourselves. Arrogance comes in when people separate
themselves from nature and from one another and begin to view everything as a commodity to be
bought and sold for personal gain. Industrial agribusiness and GMOs are examples of this.
If our world is to survive we need to return to nature and respect for natural processes and the
environment and begin to restore what we have lost. We need action from the council and we need it
now. Mahalo.
Jim Albertini
Sept. 4, 2013
Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education&Action P.O. Box AB Ola'a(Kurtistown)
Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ia@,malu-aina.org www.malu-aina.org
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