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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Saturday 9 June 2012
“They came together to send a resounding message to Monsanto that Monsanto is not welcome on their island.”
Maui Activists Join To Protest Monsanto Corporation
Occupy Wall Street Maui, GMO-Free Maui and the March On Maui group joined together Thursday to gather in front of Monsanto’s facility and GMO corn fields in protest of Monsanto Corporation using their islands as their own personal experimental laboratory.
According to the group's Face Book call to action; "Monsanto is one of the most insidious examples of the 1%, the ruling global elite. They have polluted our soil and groundwater with Roundup and other pesticides, polluted our air with open field testing of their GMO corn crops, and polluted our government and education system with massive campaign contributions and funding of our schools and universities."
The group brought signs, drums, music and good vibes as they gathered together in solidarity with people all over the world who have been negatively affected by Monsanto and their products. They came together to send a resounding message to Monsanto that Monsanto is not welcome on their island.
The group stated, "We the people demand clean food, clean water, clean air, and a government untainted by corporate lobbyists and influence. We demand immediate labeling of all GMO products and a moratorium on open-air testing across all the islands!"
This protest is particularly important because according to Monsanto's "Did You Know..." newsletter, Monsanto investment continues in their Maui farms. In April, a purchase and sale agreement was signed by Monsanto with A&B for existing Mokulele farms plus an additional 90 acres. The purchase of Mokulele is the second land purchase on Maui (the Piilani farm was purchased in 2010). Once the purchase of the Mokulele farm is complete, irrigation infrastructure, fencing and windbreaks will be installed over the next couple of years to bring it into production. In addition to the Mokulele purchase, a $3.5 million capital project will be executed on the Piilani farm to bring the top portion of the farm into production. The development will also include new irrigation infrastructure, upgrading existing fields by removing rock and improving the soil structure. A conservation plan is also to be installed to improve water flow and decrease erosion on the property.
This is not the first protest this year against Monsanto by activists on Maui and the groups vowed it will not be the last. Other activist on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island expressed solidarity on Face Book and vowed to organize protest against Monsanto on their islands.
13 comments on "Maui Activists Join To Protest Monsanto Corporation"
June 10, 2012 5:23pm
See the new Hawaiian film
"Stop Monsanto From Poisoning Hawai'i: Genetic Engineering Chemical Warfare"
at > http://bit.ly/KYFlpK
They cover a lot, showing that Hawaii is a prime breeding ground for M's experiments. Including drilling down into who owns the land they're leasing and that mutual funds invest in that company. This was a surprise-I presumed M owned the land they're abusing. Maybe that's a small light in the tunnel...
June 10, 2012 7:19am
Great going Maui. Some good people are still around.
June 09, 2012 7:22pm
Thanks to all who showed up and honked their opposition to their oppression of our basic rights, and for the author for bringing up their plans for further expansion. The path to their expulsion is clear. They cannot operate in the light. Step 1: educate and organize, as Uncle Walter Ritte honored us with presenting: it is imperative that all the islands push together now in paddling off towards the horizon, to greet a new day with out their presence. Between now and January 2013 with the next legislative session we need an all hands on deck, full court push for: LABELLING. Simple as that. Label it and they will be hurting.
Dakota, since you are on Maui already I would suggest connecting with the movement here to evict Monsanto and co. (Upcountry Sustainability, OWS-Maui, etc.) Of course you know that crops such as Papaya, Soy, and Corn even up Haleakala on Piiholo Ranch(?) are at risk of cross contamination. Bees can travel as much as 7 miles. The question of where exactly their crops are planted is one requiring of further research, and I remember a presentation by Maui County Health Director Dr. Pang, where he outlined some history on how they have skirted transparency about what crops are being grown and where (to the extent we can even know what those Franken"foods" are). Much material is gathered on the GMO-Free Maui and Monsatano Working Group (OWS-Maui) groups on facebook. I know that I would further urge you to consider that the island and our Earth are too small and the stakes are too large now to isolate yourself. We all have to care for and educate eachother in spite of everything (I know you do care to, as you made some salient points of information) because there is no where to hide; no planet B besides our shared 1. For instance how can one protect themselves from GMO mosquitos? By get active and stopping them before they are released and inevitably spread. When Monsanto shows up to "educate" youth with Tractor Rides at Maui Ag Fair? Be there to expose them. Disney World is a long way away, and they certainly have major problems with their propoganda, but I'll give them this due: they were right about one thing: it is a small world after all
http://www.gmofreeflorida.com/action.html"
http://www.change.org/petitions/office-of-the-governor-the-honorable-nei...
June 10, 2012 1:38am
thank you! I appreciate the information. We are in the process of launching a website to promote awareness and get people's votes on the issues at stake (much like change.org but focusing solely on Maui). Now that people are catching on about Monsanto, they know they are really going to have to raise the bar on their PR efforts to make GMO sound like a good thing. I think we are going to be bombarded with GMO advertising. I bet they have targeted TV, magazines, internet, radio, sports events, etc, etc. It's all in the marketing... Already Monsanto has a blog at http://monsantoblog.com/2012/06/06/i-love-sweet-corn/ which pushes the propaganda. By the way, there is a good movie being played this coming Saturday as part of the Maui Film Festival 'Bitter Seeds' - http://www.mauifilmfestival.com/tixSYS/2012/xslguide/eventnote.php?Event... - be sure to come and watch it!
June 09, 2012 6:44pm
You can find all the facts about Monsanto in the excellent documentary: The World According to Monsanto (viewable on line).
June 10, 2012 5:13pm
It's here > http://bit.ly/KYENQL
full film with English translation
June 09, 2012 5:08pm
yes, any smart person with a conscious could never work for Monsanto, or any other corporations of their ilk. Corporations have had their day... we know they are all corrupt. They are driven only by profits. They have to in order to keep their shareholders. In the new world it's all about nurturing community, and working within communities. Do you research buddy, you look like an ignorant fool. I know generally speaking Americans are stupid, but you take the cake. (getthetruth4achange) To say that agricultural practices used since time began is now all of a sudden a bigger risk than greedy corporate profit-driven unnatural scientific experiments is pure stupidity. I have a genuine distaste for anyone associated with Monsanto, and that goes for businesses too. As a business owner, I am more than willing to sacrifice business opportunities if that means patronizing a company like Monsanto directly, or indirectly. The most recent client I turned away was Disney. Did you know Disney and Monsanto are bedfellows? They have been since the 1950's when Monsanto was pushing plastics. Now they are working with Monsanto to target and disillusion young kids with their propaganda about GMO food. Just disgraceful. Look at all your disgustingly FAT Americans. So friggin FAT. Walking around like oversized elephants. It's gross! Thank Monsanto for that because they have a large hand in supplying all those junk food companies, you know.. sugar, corn, wheat, soy. All that crap that's making everyone sick now because their bodies cant process the GMOs. I've reached a point where I dont care about anyone else except for myself. I took the time to do my research and learned how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The information is available at your fingertips if you can get off your fat lazy ass to find it. If people can't do that, then sadly they will face the consequences.
June 10, 2012 12:55am
No-one asked me if I minded if Monsanto set up a farm to test their crap. I don't want any of my fruit and vegetables to get contaminated!!!!!
June 09, 2012 2:37pm
maybe we need to sue the organic grower:
http://news.yahoo.com/organic-meat-may-higher-parasite-risk-152507756.html
Organic Meat May Have Higher Parasite Risk
I work at Monsanto and if anyone here on this blog has enough honesty and guts to discuss what I know is a whole lot of lies about Monsanto I would happy to discuss. If i thought anything about the Monsanto you think exists actually was correct I wouldn't be working there and I can assure it is not true. I am not being asked by the compnay to write this but I fed up about the lies that are being spread by people who have no idea what they know except through the internet. email me at getthetruth4achange@yahoo.com. Monsanto is not a monolith group of people its 1,000's of people across the world and I am just one but I know probably a thousand of them
June 10, 2012 2:13pm
Re: "...honesty and guts..."
Working for M makes your statements least credible, not most credible.
If one wishes to follow the Precautionary Principle in regards to food, one would not consume any GM food -this is irrefutable. The other choice is to be a lab rat, or worse, a field trial rat without your awareness because M refuses to label GE products.
READ THIS and weep - http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html
copied for your convenience:
Genetically Modified Foods
According to the World Health Organization, Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally."[1] ...
Natural breeding processes have been safely utilized for the past several thousand years. In contrast, "GE crop technology abrogates natural reproductive processes, selection occurs at the single cell level, the procedure is highly mutagenic and routinely breeches genera barriers, and the technique has only been used commercially for 10 years."[3]
Despite these differences, safety assessment of GM foods has been based on the idea of "substantial equivalence" such that "if a new food is found to be substantially equivalent in composition and nutritional characteristics to an existing food, it can be regarded as safe as the conventional food."[4] However, several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.
There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation as defined by Hill's Criteria in the areas of strength of association, consistency, specificity, biological gradient, and biological plausibility.[5] The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.[2,6,7,8,9,10,11]
Specificity of the association of GM foods and specific disease processes is also supported. Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation, including upregulation of cytokines associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation. [6,11] Animal studies also show altered structure and function of the liver, including altered lipid and carbohydrate metabolism as well as cellular changes that could lead to accelerated aging and possibly lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). [7,8,10] Changes in the kidney, pancreas and spleen have also been documented. [6,8,10] A recent 2008 study links GM corn with infertility, showing a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower litter weight in mice fed GM corn.[8] This study also found that over 400 genes were found to be expressed differently in the mice fed GM corn. These are genes known to control protein synthesis and modification, cell signaling, cholesterol synthesis, and insulin regulation. Studies also show intestinal damage in animals fed GM foods, including proliferative cell growth[9] and disruption of the intestinal immune system.[6]
Regarding biological gradient, one study, done by Kroghsbo, et al., has shown that rats fed transgenic Bt rice trended to a dose related response for Bt specific IgA. 11
Also, because of the mounting data, it is biologically plausible for Genetically Modified Foods to cause adverse health effects in humans.
In spite of this risk, the biotechnology industry claims that GM foods can feed the world through production of higher crop yields. However, a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists reviewed 12 academic studies and indicates otherwise: "The several thousand field trials over the last 20 years for genes aimed at increasing operational or intrinsic yield (of crops) indicate a significant undertaking. Yet none of these field trials have resulted in increased yield in commercialized major food/feed crops, with the exception of Bt corn."[12] However, it was further stated that this increase is largely due to traditional breeding improvements.
Therefore, because GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health and are without benefit, the AAEM believes that it is imperative to adopt the precautionary principle, which is one of the main regulatory tools of the European Union environmental and health policy and serves as a foundation for several international agreements.[13] The most commonly used definition is from the 1992 Rio Declaration that states: "In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."[13]
Another often used definition originated from an environmental meeting in the United States in 1998 stating: "When an activity raises threats to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof (of the safety of the activity)."[13]
With the precautionary principle in mind, because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the AAEM asks:
Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.
Physicians to consider the possible role of GM foods in the disease processes of the patients they treat and to document any changes in patient health when changing from GM food to non-GM food.
Our members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.
For a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers.
(This statement was reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine on May 8, 2009.)
Submitted by Amy Dean, D.O. and Jennifer Armstrong, M.D.
Bibliography: Genetically Modified Foods Position Paper AAEM
1. World Health Organization. (Internet).(2002). Foods derived from modern technology: 20 questions on genetically modified foods. Available from: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index....
2. Smith, JM. Genetic Roulette. Fairfield: Yes Books.2007. p.10
3. Freese W, Schubert D. Safety testing and regulation of genetically engineered foods. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews. Nov 2004. 21.
4. Society of Toxicology. The safety of genetically modified foods produced through biotechnology. Toxicol. Sci. 2003; 71:2-8.
5. Hill, AB. The environment and disease: association or causation? Proceeding of the Royal Society of Medicine 1965; 58:295-300.
6. Finamore A, Roselli M, Britti S, et al. Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON 810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice. J Agric. Food Chem. 2008; 56(23):11533-11539.
7. Malatesta M, Boraldi F, Annovi G, et al. A long-term study on female mice fed on a genetically modified soybean:effects on liver ageing. Histochem Cell Biol. 2008; 130:967-977.
8. Velimirov A, Binter C, Zentek J. Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice. Report-Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth. 2008.
9. Ewen S, Pustzai A. Effects of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine.Lancet. 354:1353-1354.
10. Kilic A, Aday M. A three generational study with genetically modified Bt corn in rats: biochemical and histopathological investigation. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2008; 46(3):1164-1170.
11. Kroghsbo S, Madsen C, Poulsen M, et al. Immunotoxicological studies of genetically modified rice expression PHA-E lectin or Bt toxin in Wistar rats. Toxicology. 2008; 245:24-34.
12. Gurain-Sherman,D. 2009. Failure to yield: evaluating the performance of genetically engineered crops. Cambridge (MA): Union of Concerned Scientists.
13. Lofstedt R. The precautionary principle: risk, regulation and politics. Merton College, Oxford. 2002.
Bibliography: Genetically Modified Foods Position Paper AAEM
World Health Organization. (Internet).(2002). Foods derived from modern technology: 20 questions on genetically modified foods. Available from: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index....
Smith, JM. Genetic Roulette. Fairfield: Yes Books.2007. p.10
Freese W, Schubert D. Safety testing and regulation of genetically engineered foods. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews. Nov 2004. 21.
Society of Toxicology. The safety of genetically modified foods produced through biotechnology. Toxicol. Sci. 2003; 71:2-8.
Hill, AB. The environment and disease: association or causation? Proceeding of the Royal Society of Medicine 1965; 58:295-300.
Finamore A, Roselli M, Britti S, et al. Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON 810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice. J Agric. Food Chem. 2008; 56(23):11533-11539.
Malatesta M, Boraldi F, Annovi G, et al. A long-term study on female mice fed on a genetically modified soybean:effects on liver ageing. Histochem Cell Biol. 2008; 130:967-977.
Velimirov A, Binter C, Zentek J. Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice. Report-Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth. 2008.
Ewen S, Pustzai A. Effects of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine.Lancet. 354:1353-1354.
Kilic A, Aday M. A three generational study with genetically modified Bt corn in rats: biochemical and histopathological investigation. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2008; 46(3):1164-1170.
Kroghsbo S, Madsen C, Poulsen M, et al. Immunotoxicological studies of genetically modified rice expression PHA-E lectin or Bt toxin in Wistar rats. Toxicology. 2008; 245:24-34.
Gurain-Sherman,D. 2009. Failure to yield: evaluating the performance of genetically engineered crops. Cambridge (MA): Union of Concerned Scientists.
Lofstedt R. The precautionary principle: risk, regulation and politics. Merton College, Oxford. 2002.
June 09, 2012 1:09pm
You really do not understand Monsanto, they are a generous and big hearted corporation that actively creates brand new poisonous crops. The reason is quite simple, these crops, that will not only proect themselves from insects and weeds, but will also kill off anyone who ateempts to eat them, will become ideal biofuels like the jatropha plant we hear so much about.
By removing 60% of the corn crop from the food chain because of BT contamination, they have placed it squarely in the "other" category. We anticipate that Monsanto will shortly unveil complete new ethanol production facilities for the US market. They have also guaranteed that only the citizens of America will benefit from these inexpensivc fuel feedstock since Europe hastaken a firm stance against the poisonous seeds.
June 09, 2012 1:21pm
No one with any sort of conscience could possibly work for this company.
June 09, 2012 12:49pm
Monsanto -- working on turning paradise into Hell.