HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0721.045 2018-2020 I
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Murashige, Laura
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From: Richard Ha <richard@hamakuasprings.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 04,2020 7:40 AM }
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Strongly support Resolution 475-20. Reduce pesticide usage
Aloha Council Chair Chung and Councilors w
I very strongly support Resolution 475 20. Goals are to reduce herbicide use, reduce public exposure to
herbicides and support the appointment of a vegetation management advisory. Commission. This is a practical
cost effective way to deal with the herbicide safety issue. The EPA declared a few weeks ago that there are no
human health risks associated with Glyphosate.
I am sharing what we learned over 40 years as a commercial banana, hydroponic tomato and floating raft
Aquaponics leafy green grower. This is what informs my opinion.
About 25 years ago, in the 1990's. when we started to expand our banana operation, we knew that being
environmentally friendly was the right thing to do. And so we set out to make sure we operated that way.
In 1992, we were the first banana farm in the WORLD to be certified "Eco O.K."by the Rainforest Alliance,
the world's largest third-party certifying environmental organization. They wanted to bring the world banana
suppliers into compliance. They had to delay the award until a farm in Costa Rica qualified so we could both
say, we were first in the world.
Next, we were certified as a"sustainable farm"by The Food Alliance, a sustainable certification organization
from the Pacific Northwest.
Later, our company was one of six national finalists for the Patrick Madden award, a sustainable farming award
sponsored by the USDA. SARE's Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture recognizes farmers or
farm families who advance sustainable agriculture through innovation, leadership and good stewardship. The
award is named for SARE's first director, Patrick Madden, who was a pioneer in the movement toward a strong,
independent agriculture.
Around 2002, we applied to get our banana operation"food safety certified." We were not required to do this;
we just knew it was the right thing to do. To be food safety certified, there were approximately 60 line items to
address in each of the growing and processing operations. Each time we were recertified, the requirements were
stricter. We learned from this and become better operators.
The Hawaii Banana Industry Association(HBIA) was working on sustainability before the word became
popular.
The HBIA decided not to use pesticide impregnated bags because our workers would have to carry it, touch it,
smell it and we did not want that.
This announcement just came from the EPA, there are no risks to human health. the Interim Registration
Review Decision, EPA confirms no apparent risk to human health. "EPA has thoroughly evaluated potential
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human health risk associated with exposure to glyphosate and determined that there are no risks to human
health from the current registered uses of glyphosate and that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to
humans."
This announcement from the EPA is just the latest instance of a regulatory agency reaffirming that glyphosate is
not carcinogenic. Since the International Agency for Research on Cancer assessment in 2015, regulatory and
scientific bodies that have reaffirmed their conclusions about the safety of glyphosate-based products and that
glyphosate has not been found to be carcinogenic when used according to the label. The bodies supporting these
safety findings include the European Food Safety Authority, European Chemicals Agency, German BfR, and
Australian, Canadian, Korean,New Zealand and Japanese regulatory authorities, as well as the Joint
FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues.
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Aloha
Richard Ha
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