There have also been questions about the safety of genetically engineered foods. In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority determines whether new GM products are safe for consumers and the environment. That view is then considered by the 27 member states, which make the final decision. It requires all genetically modified foods to be labeled, and, currently, only one genetically modified crop—Bt corn—has been approved to grow in the E.U. (mainly in Spain, but also in Germany, the Czech Republic and Portugal).
The FDA does not require GM foods to be labeled as such, insisting that studies have shown it to be as safe as foods produced using conventional breeding techniques. It is the seed companies that conduct the safety tests for new GM food products, passing the safety and nutritional information to the FDA for the agency's scientific evaluation.
"I haven't seen sufficient data from a legitimate organization without a conflict of interest to show that the stuff is healthy or safe," says Lorrin Pang, a public health specialist in Maui, and a consultant to the World Health Organization on tropical diseases, "I haven't seen data that says it isn't, either—but I'm from a drug and vaccine background that operates on the precautionary principle: You don't give something to the public until it's proven safe."
Pioneer Hi-Bred's Goldstein insists that foods made with genetically modified ingredients are safe, noting that they have been in the U.S. marketplace since 1996 and that "over a trillion meals containing biotech ingredients have been consumed in the U.S. with no documented negative health impacts."
The genetically modified seed biz may be booming in the 50th state, but not everyone is pleased about it. The Hawaii County Council (county legislature) last month voted to ban the growth of genetically modified taro (a tropical plant whose potato-like root is a staple of the Hawaiian diet) and coffee on the Big Island (Hawaii). The reason: pollen from GM crops could contaminate the non-gm varieties and destroy farmers' livelihoods. The concern seems to be greater with these products, because they’re specialty crops commonly grown on the Islands, as opposed to corn, raising the possibility of cross-pollination.
There is also an emotional element to banning GM taro. According to legend, the taro plant originated when a child of the gods was born lifeless. From the child’s grave sprouted the first taro plant, forever casting it as a sacred subsistence food and an ancestor to native Hawaiians.
Despite the hoopla, Carol Okada, manager for the Plant Quarantine Branch of Hawaii's Department of Agriculture, says the business is here to stay and will still be booming in Hawaii 10 years down the road. "Even though it's controversial here," she says, "the [GM] seed industry is now the No. 1 industry for us and it is very important in terms of the economy, dealing with invasive species, and giving farmers choices."
The bottom line: Hawaii may be the GM crop test capital of the world, but the debate over biotech foods is far from over.
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11 Comments
Add Commenti don't like planting GM products. you can't use seeds from one year to the next. it's like "hybrid massacre".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-t7PmonBEA&feature=channel_page
goldieshouse.piczo.com
GM is poison, not any proof of its safety. The people of Hawaii should burn these genetic monstrosities down! All Monsanto and DuPont care about is cornering the market and making absolute profit. It is time to revolt against this evil.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have lived on Kauai for almost 20 years. I find that when I eat the locally grown fresh corn I don't digest it at all, yet I can eat other imported fresh corn.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey forgett to mention that most of the weeds they talk about are Hawaiian herbs that grow wild. We've grown sugarcane, pineapple, vegetables and fruits without using any pesticides and they have been healthy and delicious. With GMO you don't get that; it's a means for corporations to own the foodplants so they can charge you for it and control it. They have contaminated our lands that affect our aquifers and in the end our territory will be inhabitable for humans. The U.S. have always stated that Hawai'i is expendable. They have disrupted our eco-system to experiment with hazardous materials. We don't want any GMO/GE experiments in Hawai'i.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey forgett to mention that most of the weeds they talk about are Hawaiian herbs that grow wild. We've grown sugarcane, pineapple, vegetables and fruits in our yards without using any pesticides and they have been healthy and delicious. With GMO you don't get that; it's a means for corporations to own the foodplants so they can charge you for it and control it. They have contaminated our lands that affect our aquifers and in the end our territory will be inhabitable for humans. The U.S. have always stated that Hawai'i is expendable. They have disrupted our eco-system to experiment with hazardous materials. We don't want any GMO/GE experiments in Hawai'i.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt least the focus here seems to be the massive control the large corporations will have over what we *eat*. What we need to stay alive, to say no less.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe safety scares are (mostly, IMO) just a way to keep the general public from buying them. Ok, they are *probably* *mostly* safe, but that in no way makes it OK to decimate natural species, take over the gene pool, encourage pollution of the water table with every increasing levels of pesticide and herbicide (one of the 'selling points' is that they're resistant to the really nasty toxins it takes to kill off every conceivable competitor for resources).
And that's before you mention that you're giving control of either what you live on, or your ability to grow the product that makes your living, to a massive, faceless company that's only in it to squeeze money out of you, year by year by year.
The article did not include the many studies and large amount of scientific data showing that foods developed through biotechnology are as safe as their conventional counterparts. Numerous independent agencies have studied the safety of GM crops and concluded they pose no danger to our food supply. In 2004 a National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine report evaluating health effects of genetically modified foods concluded that assessment of food safety based solely on method of breeding is "scientifically unjustified," and noted that adverse effects from transgenic foods have never been documented. Similarly, the World Health Organization concluded that GM foods on the market are not likely to present risks for human health any more than their conventional counterparts in their report Modern Food Biotechnology, Human Health and Development: An Evidence-Based Study (June 2005).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article highlights biotech papaya, a successful application of biotechnology benefiting the Hawaii papaya industry. Papaya ringspot virus was decimating island papaya farms when biotechnologists produced a virus resistant variety. Now, Hawaiis papaya exports are growing and organic farmers benefit from the presence of resistant papaya in growing areas, which reduces the spread of the virus by insects from one farm to the next. Accurate information and scientific evidence that sheds light on the issue helps all of us better understand the current and future potential applications of this technology. Hawaiis biotech papaya and adoption of the technology by local farmers provides an example of the benefits and successful application of agriculture biotechnology.
If you go to gmofreehawaii.org, you will get a different perspective from the organic papaya growers and the contamination that has occurred! Some of those organic growers went to Thailand to talk with government officials there to give them the truth before it ruins their organi papaya crops.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCurrently a GMO preemption bill is upcoming in Hawaii's state legislature which would set a dangerous precedent should it pass. No industry should be allowed to preempt from being regulated or banned, a product that can either negatively or unstably affect the DNA of human health and biodiversity of our food supply. This would include non allowance for an exemption from the a regulation of the right to know what is in our foods and on our lands. Consider 2 papers: The Dangers From Consumption of Foods Containing Transplanted DNA by Hugh S. Lehman, Ph.D. on website: http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2006/uapr06.phpo. and scientist Arpad Pusztai honest studies on GMO and its impacts, as well as his response to a young ladies questions on the link between autism and GMOs. http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/05/monsanto-gmos-arpad-pusztai-looks-at.html
There is absolutely no excuse for cultural and environmental distruction of land. I'm offended to see this article and the statement, "scientists believe say the benefits outweigh the risks of damage to the fragile ecosystem" is an infringement of the sovereign indigenous intellectual property rights of all the Native people who first cultivated those crops.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe fact that gmo companies grossly overlook the cross contamination of organic crops, is an infringement on the basic human rights to grow our own wholesome gmo free food.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a lineal descendant of Hawai`i, I'm offended at the insensitivity of this article.
The Papaya industry was decimated in on the island that I live on (Hawai`i) because Japan (the smart country) banned gmo foods from their country. As a person who lives on the big island of Hawai`i, I'm offended because the gmo's cross contaminated many "organic" home gardens therefore, making them non organic. PEople were hired to go into the communities to cut down the existing papaya trees and gave out University of Hawai`i gmo seeds. So the statement, " the papaya industry was saved", is a gross misinterpretation of the facts. I live here, my ancestors are from here, the papaya's on this island are no longer guaranteed "gmo free" so the biotech industry took our "choice" to eat good wholesome food and possibly decimated wonderful varieties of papaya cultivated from years of selective breeding by generations of Native ancestors. The UH papaya's have no taste and probably depleted nutritional value. I wouldn't be surprised if they introduced the ringspot virus into our fragile environment. If they can contaminate a whole industry..I wouldn't put it past them.
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