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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0393.110 2012-2014 Page 1 of I COUTTY CLERK Murashige, Laura col1 From: Mary DeVincent [druma99801 @yahoo.com] 201 OCT ( P _ 43 Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2013 9:14 PM To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Testimony for Bill 113 for County Meeting on 10 15 13 Attachments: GMO testimony Bill 113 10 15 13 council meeting.docx Please accept the attached word document of written testimony in support of Bill 113 for the Hawaii County Council Meeting on 10/15/13. Thank You, Malia & Kimo DeVincent The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference. Bess Myerson Comm.No 393, // 0 Ref. To: P Co,nci Ref. Dote, OCT 1 5 inn 10/14/2013 Kimo and Malia DeVincent Testimony in support of Bill 113 draft 2/ Comm 393.62 Our names are Kimo and Malia DeVincent, we are registered voters in Kea'au and have a small farm. We support Bill 113 and ask the County Council members here to also support it and take the courageous step to abide by the Hawaii Constitution's Precautionary Rule and ban additional GMOs from the Island of Hawaii. We should join the 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. So we are counting on you, our local representatives 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. Just in the past week two more people we know have been diagnosed with cancer. We believe the rise in cancers in the U.S. correlate with the use of GMO foods. 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. 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. 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 express permission from the biotech patent-holder, scientists and farmers risk facing lawsuits for conducting any studies. All we have are scientific studies out of Europe, Australia 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. pg. 1 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 the bald feral cats that ate them were discovered by farmers on acreages growing the new crop. Monsanto Inc., issued a statement saying, "Next generation fruits and vegetables, including these cucumbers, 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. 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. Now the biotech giant has actually resumed field tests of GMO wheat in 2011. This wheat is now growing in Hawaii. Farmers are now beginning lawsuits because of the contamination of their wheat fields by GMO wheat. Agri-monoculture and the implementation of GMOs are going against nature that shows we need to have different plants and different animals around for healthy farming. 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 pg. 2 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 history in Denmark Monsanto only sells GMO corn in three European countries. 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 this bill 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 this bill you are taking action against the land, water and people that want their safety to come before profit. 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 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/English/2013/05/29/130741.htm pg. 3