Beyond Pesticides
A protestor sums it up for Monsanto outside its corporate headquarters in Oahu on June 28.
Several organizations, including Occupy Wall Street Maui and GMO-Free Maui, as well as more than 100 concerned citizens, held a protest on 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 more than half a 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, received lots of support from many in passing cars that
honked their horns and waved in support. A nearby resident 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 because 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:
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