It’s nice to see Kauai County Council member, Gary Hooser, and the Center for Food Safety’s Ashley Lukens on the defensive when speaking lately.  They are repeating, “This law won’t affect small farmers!” I think to myself, how the hell can then know when they have NEVER ran a farm here themselves?! Hooser even had the nerve to say that people stating that are lying.  Whatever sir, as if you have the knowledge and skills to even make  that claim.  When have any of these two ran a farm here to know what it is really like? *crickets*

Ashley and Gary think they know farming but are clueless.  They don’t know that my dad has multiple small fields around the island.  Land prices are high here as leasing it is too. One field is next to a church and another borders a school and others in in ag lots that have homes around it and possibly some childcare occurring in them.  With unknown parameters given in the bills, it’s hard to determine how the farm will be hit.  It’s even more concerning because of his plans to expand to help meet the demands for his product.  More fields means more crop protection products which may or may not subject him to these onerous regulations.  Then on the opposite hand they talk about growing the local food supply while attacking the farmer’s tools.  

It’s amazing how politicians and activists keep repeating phrases that they really no nothing about.  I doubt Senator Josh Green, who is also a medical doctor, would want a patient telling him what to do.  These people see no problem with being downright dishonest and having no ethics about their actions and impacts.  Then they wonder why the local folks are getting angry with them.  

Local style means not speaking up and go with the flow.  The predominantly Asian culture looks down upon standing out and speaking up to draw attention to oneself.  These transplants have taken advantage of that fact and are out to make Hawaii their Hawaii without even consideration for local culture.  These people are launching laws against fishing, hunting, and farming using misinformation to portray us as destroyers of the environment.  Meanwhile, these local folks are the ones who know the issues the best and have practices supported with evidence.

It’s easy to talk about someone’s line of work when you have no clue about it.  Taking advantage of the public’s poor awareness about the infrastructure, economics, and the science and technology of agriculture is effective when combined with scare tactics.  It’s despicable but effective as we have seen and they are coming to a neighborhood or giving you a call soon.  Will you fall for their schtick of “protecting the keiki and kupuna” or will you see through the charade?  



A prime example of non-farmers giving directives to farmers. 

Today I decided to go down to the State Capitol to testify in opposition of the anti-farming, anti-pesticide HB1514. I parked in downtown with my infant son in tow and was walking near the Liliuokalani statue noticing all the people traversing there.

As I pushed my baby of 8 weeks in his stroller towards the handicap ramp, I noticed a slender, dark haired guy walking up also. He carried his backpack slung over his shoulder and was leisurely puffing on a cigarette as he walked. As I got closer, he stopped at a nearby planter to put out his cigarette. I recognized him as Dustin Barca, the former Kauai Mayoral candidate.

The hearing room was packed to the brim so I sat outside with baby and listened to the early testimony mostly in opposition to this bill. Eventually, I made my way into the room and sat down. As the hearing continued, Chair Tsuji called for all the neighbor island folks to go up.

This was the first time that I have had time off to go to one of these and what I heard really saddened me. There were at least 30 or so ordinary folks testifying of a host of multiple illnesses and a fear that they were being sprayed by pesticides. Klayton Kubo, a Kauai activist brought a dirty paper towel with the dust he wiped off of his louvers. Several of them shed tears because they were fearful of this alleged exposure to toxins.

Then there was good old Kauai County Council member, Gary Hooser, testifying on behalf of the council. He kept stating that small farmers won’t be affected by this bill. Sure, Gary, it won’t hurt small farmers when you don’t even understand what’s wrong with it and why the farming community is up in arms about it. Pushing a bad bill that lacks sufficient justification isn’t going to make some of us mad, it’s gonna make all of us mad. If you can attack one sector of ag, who is to say what’s next?

As I sat in the hearing listening to testimonies, I looked around at the supporters of this badly written bill. They looked like regular folks that were well fed and healthy looking. They all were able to afford plane tickets to fly over and had time off to do so. The common line that was stated over and over again was that they were afraid of being sprayed and toxins all around them. Some testimonies implied that the seed company employees were uneducated because they didn’t speak English well to their standards.

The best part of the hearing was hearing Dustin Barca go on about toxins and the horrible corporations. He even talked about the cigarette companies and their evils. It’s weird because I just saw him smoking some corporate grown tobacco and inhaling toxins. I had to scratch my head thinking about that.

These people mostly had no attachment to agriculture or even understand Hawaii’s roots. They see farms as nuisances and combined with no background in farming, they are ideal pickings by mainland activist groups like the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice as well as the mainland funded Hawaii Seed. Spread some rumors about cancer, autism, birth defects, allergies and asthma that it’s all caused by living near GMO farms. Repeat that message over and over until they all believe it.

They are experts in manipulation and lots of people will follow and believe despite the data collected. One colorful testifier stated that he’d sic ISIS on the biotech companies! Another mentioned a cosmic vortex that swooped the pesticides up the mountain. A single mom of 4 was worried that she would not be able to have more kids because of the pesticides in the fields. The testimony was indeed interesting.

The sad thing is that if they get their buffer zones and disclosures, it’s obvious that these attacks will not end. It’s just a start. Attempting to divide agriculture with misinformation leads us down a slippery slope. Farmers big or small will not know what other baseless laws will come down and be on the defensive constantly. How will that achieve anything positive?

There full well may be illnesses but that hasn’t even been ascertained yet. That needs to be the starting point of any added regulation. Tests and studies have been done but these people are still not satisfied with the results. These people don’t trust any entity in government from the EPA, FDA, USDA, and state for that matter. It’s obvious that what has been done already is not satisfactory to them and they won’t stop until they get their ultimate goal, GMO Free.

I really feel that these folks would’ve remained level headed if they actually were walked through their issues and possibly educated on the basics of biotech. Instead, leaders like Gary Hooser and Ashley Lukens as well as others took advantage of these folks’ lack of knowledge and instill fear in. You never see their social media sites ever explaining why things did not go their way. They continue to fuel tirades of corporate corruption with no proof to back their claims. People are so afraid of science and technology as well as holding a deep distrust of government now which is perpetuated by these leaders. Ironic that they don’t government but then keep turning right back to them for help. Are they really going to change their feelings when they get their way? I doubt it.

I still await the day the activists’ resources were used to do what they feel needs to be done. History shows that they claim to work for protecting people but in action, they could do something but don’t. That’s the biggest tragedy in the anti-GMO movement here.

I have to hand it to the Center for Food Safety with their excellent photoshopping skills. They know exactly how to prep people for “talking points” and pull on the heartstrings of legislators. Present the same info and get them all to repeat it over and over. People will believe you more when it’s said multiple times without question no matter how illogical it may be.

On their social media sites, you find nothing but photos of kids in memes and the same words of poison, toxins, deadly dust and so on. Every once in awhile, suited gas mask man is sitting in a field. There are no links to educate people on where these claims are coming from other than their own websites. True education and exposure to facts will cause the general internet scholar to think which is dangerous to their movement. The entire theme that you’ll see is that farmers are poisoning people with no data to back it up. They are experts in getting hipsters into this great cool social movement. When you are well fed, have extra time and money, this is nothing more than hobby activism of the privileged. How many needy folks are going to hang out at The Pig and Lady restaurant to talk about issues?

Interesting enough that when they first started posting things, they had nice photos of taro fields and scenic areas with hip looking folks in it. Fast forward to the last several months, and you get doom and gloom. Their message is you’re being sprayed and we’re all being killed. Time to whip up the paranoia button before the legislative session starts!

I prefer to stand on the side of facts and rational thoughts. Some people think I speak for the seed companies. The problem is they just don’t understand farming irregardless of what’s being farmed. The facts and concepts apply to all types of farming. Hawaii agriculture is not what the Center for Food Safety tries to portray which is why they sell the fear ticket. It’s easy to demonized a farm that you’ve never been on or used as your livelihoods. These people claim to love agriculture but you can’t love it and then attempt to dismantle it. You either love it all or hate it. It just can’t go both ways.

Will our legislators take the time to consider facts or drink up the emotional pot of fear? Is that fear going to make anyone healthier when it doesn’t get to the actual cause of these mystery illnesses. The first step in solving this case is to get to the root of the problem and not jumping to conclusions.

It is clear that the goal is to destroy our agricultural heritage by taking advantage of people’s lack of knowledge is science and farming. Take a look at the real side that is actually producing something tangible and growing Hawaii. It’s sure not the Center for Food Safety from its office in the concrete capital.