• GM foods safe? You have got to be kidding • Kauai can be safe from terrorists GM foods safe? You have got to be kidding Mark Phillipson’s column (TGI, Oct. 31) is the type of article that one would expect from
• GM foods safe? You have got to be kidding • Kauai can be safe from terrorists
GM foods safe? You have got to be kidding
Mark Phillipson’s column (TGI, Oct. 31) is the type of article that one would expect from the corporate relations desk of a major biotechcompany. It is Mr. Phillipson’s job to paint a public relations picture that defies a multitude of studies which have already shown that GM food is unhealthy.
How could an article by a lead corporate relations staff member possibly hold any credibility? It cannot. Labeling initiatives have regularly been struck down by biotech company lawyers, and this is what makes the GM food debate even more suspect. The excuse (cost) for not labeling GM foods as such are false and these companies, which tamper with nature, know it.
America is a nation of guinea pigs when it comes to GM food. Luckily those food manufacturers who use non-GMO ingredients are labeling their foods as such and activist groups are alerting the public of which crops are highly likely to be genetically modified.
Biotech companies, in some instances, mix plant genes with animal genes. I do not believe that would ever happen in nature. Moreover, they produce crops with pesticides built right in. Nature made pests for a purpose. In fact, I often test food by leaving it out for the ants. If the ants won’t touch it, neither will I. I have found this to be the case with some commercial big label food.
Thank you Mr. Phillipson, but no thank you.
Krisztina Samu, Koloa
Kauai can be safe from terrorists
Referring to the TGI (Sunday, Nov. 22) front-page article about terrorists, they most likely wouldn’t bother Kauai. Terrorists have their eyes set on destroying all of, or part of the Mainland power grid. There would only be indirect damage to Kauai islanders.
Indirect damage means there could soon be no more supplies shipped to Kauai. That would include food, fuels, medical supplies, and satellite programming (TV, Internet, phone services). With power out all over the US, Kauai then becomes an island by itself. Kauai would still have some solar power, for hospitals?
This brings up the need for some planning now! As we prepare for hurricanes and tsunamis, so should we prepare for the loss of Mainland support, due to terrorists’ damage there. That means, like we did during World War II, the island would mobilize “victory gardens.” At Waimea High School, we had a huge garden. That was part of our school program education: Mr. Goto and his “Garden Gang!”
Weekends, we would ride the Kekaha Sugar Plantation truck up to our Pu’u Opae victory garden. We had “bango-numbers!” And I had my own family victory garden in Waimea.
No reason our county officials and planners can’t start gardens and livestock again to supply the whole island! Big money is being planned now, to fix up our Kauai roads. No need. Tourists would soon all be gone and most jobs will be directed to agriculture. Road budget could give way to gardens and livestock.
The HDF dairy, proposed at Mahaulepu, would cease to be, and those HDF lands and irrigation systems, would revert 100 percent to agriculture, as it was in ancient Hawaiian times.
Mr. Mayor, County Council, and all Kauai departments, please take this seriously. Let’s Imua and save Kauai.
Alan Faye, Princeville
