03
Jul
Concerned Oahu Citizens Demand that Monsanto Stop Poisoning Hawaii
(Beyond Pesticides, July 3, 2012) Several organizations, including Occupy Wall Street Maui and GMO-Free Maui, as well as over 100 concerned citizens, held a protest on Thursday, June 28 in front of the Monsanto Corporation headquarters in Kunia on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. According to the organizers, the protesters met in Kunia and marched over a half mile to the Monsanto, compound for two hours of roadside sign-waving and chanting, demanding that Monsanto leave Hawaii and saying they need real food not exported GMO seeds and chemical contamination. The group also demands that genetically engineered (GE) food be labeled. 
The protesters wore masks to protect themselves from pesticide drift and GE spores, and received lots of support from many in passing cars that honked their horns and waved in support. According to organizers, a nearby resident even came to find out what was going on and soon donned a mask himself as he was unaware of the dangers so close to his house. The resident expressed concern about the large trucks and equipment operating at night at Monsanto’s fields.
Monsanto operates about 8,000 acres in Hawaii for GE seed production. According to organizers, these operations use the most valuable agricultural lands and water in food production, as well as large amounts of chemicals and pesticides that are required to grow these crops. Hawaii is a global center for the open-air field testing of experimental GE crops, but no impact studies have been conducted.
Food security is a growing concern in Hawaii as the majority of the food is imported while the biotech industry grows GE seeds for export. The need for locally grown, wholesome, natural, non-toxic food is high on everyone’s priority list. Walter Ritte of “Label It Hawaii” offers a strong message for Monsanto: “Get out of Hawaii, grow food, stop growing seeds and chemicals, grow food, we need food security over here.”
Monsanto stopped operations for the afternoon of the protest and allowed most workers to leave early. Monsanto erected a barrier and manned a security station at the entrance to their compound. There were several Monsanto employees filming the protesters throughout the event.
This protest follows similar protests recently held on the islands of Maui and Kauai against Monsanto. Activist organizations on the other islands vowed solidarity and stated that they are planning more protests until Monsanto leaves the islands.
Recently, the U.S. has moved to deregulate several varieties of GE crops. However, these decisions fail to take into account several scientifically-validated environmental concerns, such as the indiscriminate nature of genetically modified gene flow in crops, a heavy reliance on faulty data, and a high degree of uncertainty in making safety determinations. They also overlook the problem of pesticide-resistant weeds and insects, as well as the widespread corruption of conventional seed varieties by GE strains, and documented severe economic injury to farmers and markets. Overlooked as well are possible health consequences from eating GE food, still largely unstudied and unknown.
Fortunately, GE crops are not permitted in organic food production. For more information about why organic is the right choice, see our Organic Food: Eating with a Conscience Guide and visit the Organic Program page. For more information on the failure of genetically engineered food, read “Genetically Engineered Food Failed promises and hazardous outcomes,†from the Summer 2011 issue of Pesticides and You, or go to our Genetic Engineering web page.
For more photos and videos of the event follow the links below:
Stop Monsanto from Poisoning Hawaii Protest June 28, 2012 By Mitsuko Hayakawa
120628 Monsanto protest by Hdoug50
Monsanto Anti GMO Rally By Diane Parker
Monsanto Kunia Protest Video by jwmacey
For more information on the event, see the Facebook event page or contact James W. Macey, [email protected], (808) 672-7812
Have a story or photo you’d like to share? Send us an email at [email protected].
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Monsanto claims their experiments with GMOs will feed a growing world population but in actuality they are laying the groundwork for larger and larger profits from roundup sales and other pesticides as well as cornering the market on seeds, putting farmers out of business,and thereby controlling the world’s food supply.
July 4th, 2012 at 11:15 pmThis article actually brings in a live case of a state that is completely against the GMO sugar beets. Since Monsanto took over the industry in 2 years, there definitely was not enough research conducted on potential negative effects that these genetically modified seeds could have. The governmental deregulation’s should only have been allowed after these seeds had been proven to not have negative effects. Although it is interesting to see that Hawai has taken such a strong stance against them, around the rest of the United States and the World they have been embraced, because they help produce sugar more effectively. It is a topic that definitely needs to more consistently addressed and studied.
July 10th, 2012 at 12:06 pm