HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0393.324 2012-2014 HAWAII FARM BUREAU
HILO CHAPTER COL:TY ~4_ER
NOVEMBER 4, 2013
To: Hawaii County Council 2013 °` l Fib 09
Re: Bill 113, Draft 3, adding a new article to the Hawaii County Code Chapter 14, relating to
genetically engineered crops and plants.
The Hilo Chapter Farm Bureau represents 200 members who currently farm or who have retired
from farming. We stand strongly opposed to Bill 113 which will place severe restrictions on
current agriculture, and add additional county regulations to those responsibilities already
delegated to the USDA, FDA, EPA and our State Department of Agriculture. This measure if
actually implemented will make sustainable agriculture impossible and force an increased
reliance on imported and more expensive food. By criminalizing farmers, this bill will also make
farmers target to increased vandalism.
At our annual convention in Maui in October, the delegates from all chapters around the state
reaffirmed their support for policies regarding biotechnology and its ability to support agriculture.
Over the past five decades we have been working with many commodity associations,
universities, and our state Department of Agriculture to promote Hawaii's farmers. You have all
heard the slogans including "Support Hawaii's farmers, buy local produce" and "Buy fresh, buy
local". Farmers have the support of our local supermarkets and consumers, who promote and
purchase Hawaii grown produce, meat, dairy, nursery and other food commodities. Our goal
has always been to provide safe and healthy food for the people of our State.
We have come a long way on the Big Island since the sugar plantations closed in the 1970s.
Farmers have stepped up to make use of the thousands of acres of agricultural land. Where you
now see acres of productive croplands, you may see in the near future with the passage of this
bill a spreading invasion of strawberry guava, albizzia, miconia and guinea grass, to name some
of the pests that landowners are constantly battling. This should be a county government
battleground.
The Hilo Chapter has been encouraging farming by providing educational programs for farmers
including farm tours, classes on food safety, accounting and taxes, new equipment innovations,
equipment and tool repair, welding, field maintenance and sanitation, latest research findings,
crop production, different types of farming practices, research on pests and their control, and
even cooking demonstrations. We have supported biotechnology research and use when it
helps our farmers.
We defend the right to farm and hope that you will make the right decision regarding agriculture
• and vote NO to Bill 113.
Delan Perry
/ )
President
Randy Cabral,
State Board delegate
.
Comm. No. 3 314
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