HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0385.182 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1
Murashige, Laura COUNTY CLERK
From: Christopher Lichty [christopher @pacificorchidfarms.com] ILI
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 3:05 PM 2013 0) �s
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: GMO ban
Please don't enact a ban on GMO plants. We have really been Genetically modifying plants since we stopped
being hunter gatherers. There isn't a thing in the fruit and vegetable section of your grocery store that exist in
the same form in nature. They have all been modified. Modifying plants by splicing genetic material from other
plants and organisms doesn't create anything that couldn't be done traditionally, it only speeds up the process.
There are only four molecules that make up DNA, it is just the change in sequence that makes them different. To
ban all GMO's is shortsighted. Please consider that pollen from GMO plants can spread, and that should be
addressed on a case by case basis, but plants that propagate vegetatively (no pollen) such as bananas or taro
have no possibility of cross contamination. Growing GMO banana next to other bananas won't affect either one.
Instead of this knee jerk reaction please take the time to craft legislation that makes sense. Label GMO foods so
we can have a choice. Look at proposed GMO crops and understand the potential for cross contamination
(which is the only reason to consider regulating GMO"s). The big island is the hub of agriculture in Hawaii, and I
make my living as a farmer. Our Universities and research facilities, and those of the rest of the world will
continue to create plants that grow better, are more nutritious, or have beneficial properties by using
genetically modified plants. To ban ALL GMO's is wrong, and the state and us farmers will suffer for it. Slow
down. We don't need this ban.
I have a Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Horticultural Science.
And, I would ask you to put a question to those opponents of GMO crops. Ask them what they think of
Monsanto. It has been my experience in talking to anti GMO people, most who have just a rudimentary
understanding of the subject, that what they are really are against is Monsanto. That shouldn't be our fight.
Christopher Lichty
Pacific Orchid Farms
808- 965-2390
www.pacificorchidfarms.com
Comm. No. 3 $5' I8"2
Ref. To: P1,514 r4
Ref. Date SEP z 3 ZU13
9/10/2013