I have just read an email being circulated, “Come to the Biggest March,” etc., Sept. 8. I cannot concur with the premise and claims being stated for this march. These claims were all made against the sugar industry many years
I have just read an email being circulated, “Come to the Biggest March,” etc., Sept. 8. I cannot concur with the premise and claims being stated for this march.
These claims were all made against the sugar industry many years ago and were not proven, quite to the contrary some of the longest living ag workers reside on Kauai. I am aghast at the hysteria that is being spread amongst the people of Kauai based on conjecture and misinformation.
America feeds the world with productive farming. Productive farming can only exist through the benefits of regulated herbicides and pesticides.
Toxicological Sciences has studied the safety of genetically modified foods produced through bio technology and states, “The available scientific evidence indicates that the potential adverse health effects arising from bio technology/derived foods are not different in nature from those created by conventional breeding practices for plant, animal, or microbial enhancement and are already familiar to toxicologists.”
At the turn of the 20th century the world’s population was one billion. At the turn of the 21st century the world’s population was 7 billion, by the year 2050 the world’s population is projected to be 13 billion. Bill Gates, the world’s biggest philanthropist, is one of the greatest supporters of GMO farming.
He has personally witnessed starving children in Africa and has vowed to try and turn this terrible scourge around.
I am amazed that the well-intentioned folk on Kauai have not put their efforts into protecting Kauai’s kids who are ruining their lives with drugs … proved beyond a doubt!
There are many real causes proven beyond a doubt that could be championed by well-meaning people rather than attacking an industry that helps feed the world, that is so heavily regulated, oh, and by the way provides employment to so many on Kauai and is now being denigrated as the latest scourge since the black plague.
Please people of Kauai, educate yourselves before you get swayed along on a path of emotional hype, however well meaning it may appear.
Yes, you’re right when you say the council has a right to protect the health and well-being of the people of Kauai. They also have an obligation to base their decisions on facts.
The council also has an obligation to protect the jobs and livelihood of Kauai’s population and to defend the laws that say a farmer has the right to farm.
Again, I encourage all of you well-meaning people to be realistic and not get caught up in this effort to intimidate a council that has an obligation to all the people of Kauai based on fact, not hype.
• Irene Kennett is a resident of Blaine, Wash. She is a former resident of Hawaii, 14 years on the Big Island and 21 years on Kauai.
