Amidst the wonders and beauty of this part of the world, I find a fierce battle raging between concerned residents and corporate chemical/poison interests. There are 2 sides to the controversy, I’ve learned. I asked Wayne Jacintho, a Kauai photographer, who are the people against the GMO/poison folks; he replied: “Everybody who cares about people and creatures that are being poisoned, everybody who cares about clean water and air and soil and the ocean…”
On the other side are the chemical companies, and locals who need jobs.
Here is a letter written by Wayne this summer to a local paper in southwest Kauai:
FEEDING THE WORLD
In Aug. 3rd’s Garden Island, yet another letter proclaiming the chemical companies’ noble reason for existence: feeding the world.
And the heartrending revelation, by a Dow Chemical testifier the night of July 31st, that they, in conjunction with Bill & Melinda Gates, are developing a drought-resistant sorghum for some African country or countries. Yay!
Then, unwanted, unbidden questions arose, extinguishing the thumping koom-bah-yah in my heart.
I ask that gentleman to answer these questions, if only to restore the almost unbearable lightness I felt upon first hearing his stirring words:
1. Will these sorghum seeds be given, or will they be sold, to these people?
2. Will these plants at maturity have viable seeds, or will a ‘terminator’ gene have shut them down?
3. If the resultant seeds are viable, will those farmers be able to save some for replanting, or will they be punished if they try to do so?
4. If these farmers are not allowed to save and replant “their” seeds, will they have to buy each year’s seed from you?
5. Can these seeds be grown without special needs, or do these farmers have to buy Dow Chemical herbicide, pesticide, and synthetic fertilizers for which these seeds may have been “engineered”?
6. If these farmers have to buy these seeds, (and, if necessary, other Dow chemicals), and if there are unforseen disasters, natural or otherwise, and they then fall into debt to Dow Chemical, what will be the fate of these farmers and their lands?
Please answer straightforwardly, with source references.
Naturally, Wayne never got an answer.
See my post here of 2 months ago: https://www.lloydkahn.com/?s=roundup
If you see John Wehrheim, I believe that his wife, Felicia Cowden, has been very active on this issue.
To my mind, one fact that never seems to be stressed enough in the GMO "debate" is that the seeds are engineered to resist pesticides/herbicides, allowing crops to be sprayed to kill everything but the desired crop. All that toxic residue stays in the soil.
Bruce, the "one fact that never seems to be stressed enough in the GMO "debate" is that the seeds are engineered to resist pesticides/herbicides, allowing crops to be sprayed to kill everything but the desired crop"
is concerning in other ways too (although toxic residue it bad enough)
-at some point in time some gov't official (?) can decide only such and such crop can/should be grown….and easily eliminate others
— at some point in time it is also easy then to be "weaponised" in a way….
Mouse Genes in Your Cow (Milk)?
no thanks — AND they think it is a good thing it is "passed on"…swell.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/genetically-engineering-tb-resistant-cows/article/427815
Animals are smarter than humans in some respects. There was an article in AcresUSA Magazine (organic farming) where a farmer grew two crops of corn, a regular hybrid and a GMO variety. After harvesting, he turned his cows loose to graze the cornstalks. The cows eagerly headed for the hybrid variety, and completely ignored the GMO stalks. Some people must be dumber than cows…