`Ever since the Kanu Hawaii post on papaya several months ago, I had the opportunity of some commenter named Bryna Oliko Storch accusing me of various things.  Kanu had a really ill informed post up on their Facebook page (which is no longer posted, thank goodness!) about where to find non-GMO papayas.  I really despised how the wording was put on the post as if to imply that non-GMO is better than the disease resistant variety when the evidence shows that there is little to no difference.  Of course all the anti-GMO commenters decided to have a field day on there including Bryna Storch, who I encountered there first.

Kanu is a public page that had been leaning toward the anti-GMO side which I was very disappointed in.  When I saw this post on the Kanu Facebook page, I was immediately turned off.

There was posts on there for the anti-GMO event disguised as a “green” event sponsored by many of the same groups and Tulsi and Mike Gabbard, Hawaii Organic Farming Association, Hawaii SEED, and others.  (You can read some of my other posts linking the Gabbards to the Babes Against Biotech and some of the nasty comments made by Daniel Anthony about drinking RoundUp to people who speak out about farming.)

I decided to quit Kanu as a member for their unbalanced view of agriculture and the issues around seeing that event posted.  I stayed away from it all and checked back several months later to see if anything had changed.  I was not wrong because sure enough there was a post on papayas filled with the most ignorant and idiotic comments I have ever seen! (Those posts are removed from the page from the last few times I have checked the page.)

 

Of course Bryna starts up again on her issues with papaya that shows her knowledge about the ringspot virus to begin with, none.

She apparently thinks that the virus came from Mexico which is completely false and she doesn’t even know how it is spread.  If you do research, you’ll find that it originated in a completely different country.  Her prior comment shows that she has the same idea of “contamination” in her head which nearly all anti-GMO folks will claim.  A simple Google search disseminating the propaganda and targeting info from legitimate sites will tell one a lot about the history of papaya and the ring spot virus.

According to Wikipedia with resources cited:

“Using genetic phylogeny studies, researchers suspect the virus originated in Asia, likely India, about 2,250 years ago. From there it slowly spread through the continent reaching China about 600 years ago. It was also introduced directly from India to Australia and the Americas within the last 300 years. Papayas were introduced to India only 500 years ago, at which point the virus made the jump from cucurbits. However, the virus has switched back and forth between pathotypes many times in its evolution.”

Bryna is dead wrong about where it came from.  And as for the transmission of the virus, the info shows that the vector is from aphids from the same referenced entry in Wikipedia.  She claims she’s a farmer yet doesn’t even know this?  What’s up with that?

I find it very hard to believe that Bryna has been farming papaya for 40 years and doesn’t even know the basic facts on the virus history.  However, what she does say, will only spread more misinformation about the issue even further, which is what prompted me to comment on the Kanu post to begin with.  I emailed the executive director about the issues I had with the post and sent tons of links and resources to back up my statements too.

So several months later, I got to encounter Bryna yet again on the 4AgHawaii Partnerships when my nephew’s photo in his papaya costume was posted right after the Hawaii Farm Bureau Farm Fair.  There were two anti-GMO commenters on there making comments and I had to say something.

I took the snarky approach to Bryna and her crony didn’t like it and chimed in.  Some people just don’t have any sense of humor or even think about who and what they are commenting about too, which I find distasteful in so many ways. After my last comment she makes this statement to me:

Now how is it that once can go to an open page that doesn’t take any sides to the biotech issue be considered a troll?  Who knows.  All I know is that the tactic is played when one has no other evidence to support their stance and it is the last thing they can do in a public forum as such.  It’s weak and just like what kids do when you get called a “booger head” at the end of a confrontation.

Well, no sooner did I realize that Bryna is REALLY watching what I say.  When Pacific Business News came out with a question for the editorial board about Bill 2491, several pro-biotech comments were made and the anti-GMO mob of course did what they do best, is mob the social media as always.  So when I simply posted my question that I would like to ask the board this is what ensued.

And I mustn’t leave out Bryna’s lovely comment to me yet again.  That’s when the word was out about my new nickname!  I actually knew about it because someone had already emailed me about it several weeks prior.

I once again got an ad hominen attack from Bryna with this terrific comment.

When you got nothing in the form of evidence to back up your statement, attack them personally, for that is the way of the A’ole GMO mob here in Hawaii!

(This may bother some folks to read this, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me at all because it just shows the level of maturity and intelligence that they people lack at all angles about the entire agriculture issue in Hawaii.  For every statement and derogatory comment directly made at those speaking out for agriculture in Hawaii, you should be held accountable for it!)

Related articles

• Bros Against Biotech Senator Mike Gabbard (nogmomeansnoaloha.com)
• An Open Letter to Hawaii Politicians about Agricultural Technology (hawaiifarmersdaughter.com)
• A’ole GMO Claim No Aloha on Both Sides? (nogmomeansnoaloha.com)
• Ecoterrorism? GMO Papaya Trees Cut Down on Big Island (civilbeat.com)
• Machete attack on GMO papaya in Hawaii (radioaustralia.net.au)
• Monkey News: GMO protestors claim to have uncovered odd Sturgeon/Papaya mutant (hawaiireporter.com)