Hot off the presses – Mayor Kenoi on the Big Island, in Hawaii, recently signed Bill 113 into law, prohibiting GMOs. The bill prohibits biotech companies from operating on the island, and stops farmers from growing new GM crops. This is a historical moment for Hawaii, a place which has been called ‘ground zero for GMOs.’
Mayor Kenoi has taken a huge stand against agrichemical companies and actually followed the will of the people. Big Island, Hawaii will hopefully lead the way for the rest of the islands as well as the rest of the United States.
Hawaii has fought long and hard to ban GMOs. With the ideal climate to grow food year-round, agrichemical companies like Monsanto, Dow, and Syngenta have used it as their own personal testing ground for all manner of genetically modified crops. This is because the growing season allows them to advance their interests at a 400% faster pace than growing on the mainland US where the growing season is more limited. But that doesn’t make it right for them to poison the environment, and harm human health.
The Islands of Hawaii also have to import 90% of their food, much of it being genetically modified. Monsanto, BASF, DOW Agri-Sciences, Syngenta and DuPont Pioneer conduct field trials and grow GMO Seed for export on 24,000 acres on Hawaiian Islands.
Kauai and Molokai are quickly becoming toxic environments due to contamination of soils and ground water caused by pesticide abuse. Oahu and Maui are seeing similar patterns due to the very same abuse by these careless corporations. Hawaii once enjoyed pristine water and land, but people have been getting sick and even children have to worry about pesticide exposure used with GM crops, less than 100 meters from their school playgrounds.
Fortunately, the Big Island has told these agrichemical companies – NO MORE! If you want to thank Mayor William P. Kenoi for standing up to the biotech bullies, you can contact him here. We need more politicians like him who won’t be pushed around by Big Biotech.
Additional Sources:
GMO protest photo by Rodney Yap (photo represents resistance to GMOs)
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