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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0385.065 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1 Murashige, Laura From: Mary DeVincent [druma99801 @yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 6:58 PM To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Testimony for Bill 109/ Bill 113 and Ad Hoc Committee Corn 0394 Attachments: GMO written testimony 9 4 13 Committee meeting.docx Please accept the attached written testimony for the County Committee GMO meeting scheduled for Sept. 4, 2013. Thank you. Mary DeVincent Keaau, HI. C) cn p0 rwi W -< vs Comm. No. 385 6,5- Ref.To: P/PS/KTG Ref. Date SEP 0 4 1Qi3 9/3/2013 Testimony for Bill 109/Bill 113 and Comm 0394 Ad Hoc Committee My name is Mary DeVincent, I am a registered voter in Kea'au and have a small farm. I support Bill 109 and/or Bill 113 and ask the County Council Committee members here to also support it and take the courageous step to abide by the Hawaii Constitution's Precautionary Rule and ban GMOs from the Island of Hawaii. I do not support Comm 0394 Ad Hoc Committee as I feel it will stall the implementation of necessary action on banning GMOs from Hawaii Island allowing possible State action that would take the power away from the local level to protect local land, water, pollinators and people, as has happened in other states. The time for action is today. We should join the 27 Countries that currently ban GMOs and take advantage of a non-GMO niche market that will continue to see growth, as the truth about the problems caused by GMOs continue to come to light. We all know that the USDA is run by ex-Monsanto representatives who will use their power and these Agri-chemical companies will use their money to ensure bills like these do not get passed. So we are counting on YOU, our local representatives, local farmers and people to take local action to protect our families, our lands, pollinators and waters from the pollution of chemicals and GE crops, which current studies show are harmful to us. The theory used for genetic engineering technology, based on a 70-year-old "one gene, one protein" hypothesis, has been proven false. Studies show that proteins produced by engineered plants can and do result in damaged proteins. The scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soya contain toxic or allergenic proteins. Scientific evidence shows that many of the industry claims that GM crops yield better and more nutritious food, save on the use of pesticides, have no environmental impact whatsoever and are perfectly safe to eat are simply not true. There is no safety monitoring, not a single country on earth is actively monitoring and tracking reports of potential health effects of genetically engineered foods containing experimental viral, bacterial, insect, plant or animal genes. Bt corn and soya plants are now everywhere in our environment and registered as insecticides. But are these insecticidal plants regulated and have their proteins been tested for safety? Not by the federal departments in charge of food safety, not in Canada and not in the U.S. Genetically engineered foods do not have to be tested for safety before entering the market. No long-term human feeding studies have been done in the U.S. However, the research we do have is raising serious questions about the impact to human health and the environment. Monsanto and the other chemical Agriculture businesses want to keep us in the dark so they can keep profiting from their poison chemicals. Many scientists around the world have tried to conduct studies on GMOs and have been routinely harassed, threatened, attacked, or worse. 95% of the studies conducted on GMO are industry funded, while only 5% are independent. Anyone who buys GM seeds is required to sign a technology stewardship agreement that says they cannot perform research on the seed. Without permission from the biotech patent-holder, scientists and farmers conducting any studies risk lawsuits. All we have are scientific studies out of Europe and Russia, showing that rats fed engineered food dies prematurely, and pigs fed GMO suffered severe intestinal inflammation. In the world's first independently funded lifetime feeding study, massive health problems set in during and after the 13th month, including organ damage and cancer. Monsanto's study was 90 days using the same type of rats in the Seralini study. Thierry Vrain, a former research scientist for Agriculture Canada once supported GMOs but has now changed his position because of the steady flow of research coming from prestigious labs and published in high-impact journals; showing serious health risks associated with GM food, including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. An article just published in the journal Entropy, points to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide's active ingredient glyphosate, as devastating—possibly "the most important factor in the development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that have become prevalent in Westernized societies. and linked to "autism ... gastrointestinal issues such as inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, colitis and Crohn's disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, cancer, cachexia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and ALS, among others." Nova Scotia banned GMO cucumbers after reports began to surface about bald field mice and bald feral cats that ate them, were discovered by farmers on acreages growing the new Monsanto crop which they claimed were safe for human consumption, with some potential minor side effects. However, a six-month tracking study of 643 men and women by AgriSearch, an on-campus research arm of Dalhousie University, has shown that genetically modified (GM) cucumbers grown by Monsanto Inc. resulted in serious side effects including total groin hair loss, chafing in "sensitive areas", and bed wetting, leading to the immediate and total ban of sales of all that company's crop and pickles. In Japan, despite Japanese people being opposed to genetically modified crops and no GM seeds planted in the country, there is now GM canola growing wild around Japanese ports and roads to major food oil companies. Genetically modified crops such as Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola are so dangerous in their ability to pollute other crops that GM canola has now been found growing around 5 of the 6 Japanese ports that were tested for GM contamination. Thailand had widespread trials of GM papayas from Hawaii but reversed its plans when the seeds got wild and began contaminating nearby crops. This is biotech terrorism that must be studied and addressed. Several countries such as Japan moved to restrict the importation of Thailand's papayas as a result, not wanting to import any GM foods. In India, farmers were encouraged to plant Monsanto's GM cotton and it has led to devastating results. An estimated 1,000 farmers commit suicide each month in the country as a result of the crop failure and debt caused by planting the GM seeds. Farmers were convinced to spend what was often 1,000 times the cost of conventional seed on the "magic seeds" after listening to Monsanto's promises of increased yields and resistance to pests. Despite the promises, the crops were often destroyed by bollworms. In addition, the farmers weren't warned that the crops would require twice as much water as conventional cotton, leading to many crops drying up and dying. The "terminator" seeds also must be purchased again every year. For farmers used to saving seed from year to year, this was often a final financial blow that led to insurmountable debt. The UK's Daily Mail reports that an estimated 125,000 farmers have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. Read more at GM crops are now contaminating non-GM crops with the potential for wiping out non-GMO species, leading to contamination that cannot ever be taken back! Genetic pollution is so prevalent in North and South America where GM crops are grown that the fields of traditional, conventional and organic growers are regularly contaminated with engineered pollen and losing certification. In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a moratorium on GM foods. The canola and flax export market from Canada to Europe (a few hundreds of millions dollars) were recently lost because of genetic pollution. Monsanto abandoned its previous Roundup Ready wheat trials in 2005, without securing government approval for the crop, because U.S. wheat farmers feared that a GMO strain could hurt exports. They were right. After GMO wheat was found growing in Oregon last year, Japan has banned all wheat imports from North America. Despite this, the biotech giant Monsanto has actually resumed field tests of GMO wheat in 2011. This wheat is now growing in Hawaii. Agri-monoculture and the implementation of GMOs is going against nature, which shows we need to have different plants and different animals around for healthy farming and soil. During the 1960s, Monsato served as a producer of Agent Orange, a supposedly safe herbicide used by the US military as part of its chemical warfare program in Vietnam, which contributed to an estimated 400,000 deaths and injuries and 500,000 children born with birth defects. VA now approves many illnesses for disability because of Monsanto's so called safe herbicide exposure by veterans. Monsanto doesn't want the truth known about GMOs and pays heavily with ads trying to convince us to use more Roundup each day. GMO-crops are banned in Denmark GMO is unpopular throughout Europe Craig Shiesley, senior vice president of WhiteWave, said his company's Silk brand earned the Non-GMO Project's label in 2011. Shiesley said. "It's hard for you to call your product natural if your [product is] not non-GMO; we know that our consumer wants their food wholesome, whole, not genetically engineered". The Hawaii Papaya Industry Association, Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association, Big Island Banana Growers Association, Hawaii Dairy, and Hawaii Cattlemen's Council which are against these bills all use GMOs and are Mono-Agribusinesses that will need to add more chemicals pesticides to kill the super weeds and resistant bugs, more chemical fertilizers to feed the depleted soil and spend more money to buy seeds each year from these same companies like Monsanto that are profiting at every level and laughing at us all on the way to the bank. Don't be fooled, if you are against these bills you are for Monsanto and the other chemical companies like them. Monsanto is just like the big tobacco companies claiming their product is safe when they knew it was poisoning and slowly killing the people that used their products. Please support Bill 109 and/or Bill 113 and the people of Hawaii. Let's take back our land and freedom to farm the way our ancestors have for generations collecting our own seeds without fear of prosecution. Let's use the Precautionary Principle and limit additional GMOs until long term studies have been conducted of the safety of GMOs. Thank you. http://www.thelapine.ca/monsanto-cucumbers-cause-genital-baldness-immediately-banned-nova-scotia http://action.responsibletechnology.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=11129 http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Andre_sprog/Eng lish/2013/05/29/130741.htm