A growing movement to free local food from genetic engineering — a controversial process implicated in several health risks — continues to extend its roots on Kaua‘i. Critics oppose genetically-modified organisms for reasons ranging from uncertainty over the long-term effects
A growing movement to free local food from genetic engineering — a controversial process implicated in several health risks — continues to extend its roots on Kaua‘i.
Critics oppose genetically-modified organisms for reasons ranging from uncertainty over the long-term effects to an unnecessary meddling in the natural evolution of plant and animal species.
But supporters charge that inserting single genes from one organism into another can produce useful traits that can reduce rotting in tomatoes, for instance, or create disease-resistant crops.
Hawai‘i Seed and GMO Free Kaua‘i are sponsoring an educational evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Kaua‘i Community College Performing Arts Center in Puhi. The free event will feature two guest speakers, a short film and information on sustainable farming methods from local organic farmers.
Walter Ritte, Hawaiian activist from Molokai, and Jerry Konanui, taro grower and educator from the Big Island, will discuss the University of Hawai‘i’s genetic modification experiments and patenting of the culturally-important state plant.
“Everyone is so looking forward to seeing them and we’re grateful that they’re coming,” Kalaheo resident Mi-key said.
“We believe the Hawaiian people deserve the truth about genetic engineering,” she added. “There have been so many red flags — all we really want is responsible science.”
Ritte has a history of fighting for Hawaiian rights. He was one of nine protesters who landed on Kahoolawe on Jan. 4, 1976, to stop the military from using the Hawaiian island as a practice bombing target.
He also served in the 1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention which established the recognition of Hawaiian Gathering Rights and was one of the first elected trustees to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Ritte has led protests against genetically-modified taro, including a rally of hundreds last year at Bachman Hall on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus.
Native Hawaiians consider taro sacred. Legend has it Kalo sprouted from Haloa, the stillborn child of Wakea, the sky father, and Ho‘ohokukalani, the star mother, to become the first taro plant thousands of years ago.
“Why I fight for this land, all this time, is for the ancestors,” Kalaheo resident Tommy Perreiro said yesterday. “Taro … that’s our identity. You touch the kalo haloa, you touch us. You change us too. We came from that. You modify us, you modify the next guy behind me.”
State lawmakers — with support from Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i, and Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District — have considered bills to place a moratorium on genetically-modified taro, but so far none have passed.
“I say drop everything, let’s focus on our land,” Perreiro said. “Contamination is everywhere. We’ve got to stay focused on GMO, it can disrupt the whole resources of this island. People need to realize it’s all one big picture … Superferry is nothing compared to this.”
After educating himself in part through conferences from Albequerque to Italy, Konanui now works to spread the word on the risks he has learned to be associated with genetically-engineered food.
Concerns over possible health risks associated with genetically-modified food include disease-resistant antibiotics, cancer, toxin level increases and nutritional deviations, according to Hawaii Seed’s Web site.
Konanui champions common sense approaches to farming — including diversity, companion planting and fallow periods.
“Never before has mankind been able to combine the DNA of different species,” Mi-key said. “No one knows the long-term effects of GMOs on human health, the environment.”
For more information on genetically-modified organisms, visit www.higean.org or www.hawaiiseed.org.
