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.

In this week’s Civil Beat, there was an article about the public housing situation. It’s not a new story at all. It is getting funding cut to it and is deteriorating or dilapidated in some cases. Many people depend on this and without it, these folks would be on the streets.

Many legislators have been in office for quite sometime and I’m sure are well aware of this problem. According to CB, some of the units shoot out black water from the plumbing or are pest infested causing allergies and asthma. If a private landlord allowed people to live in these conditions, they’d be investigated and fined. However, because this is the state, there is no such urgency or accountability for these issues. The keiki and kupuna who call these units homes must just tolerate it.

Shouldn’t this be an urgent priority for our lawmakers? There is a really high probability of someone getting ill or hurt living in substandard conditions. Isn’t this something that the health committee should consider a priority?

Sadly, the needs of the most vulnerable of folks will not likely be heard. Instead, our politicians like Senator Josh Green and Representative Chris Lee turn their heads to the loudest of people. These activists have more than enough food and have enough free time to get on a plane to protest island to island. They have enough disposable income to be able to buy more expensive food. Ironically, these people’s needs are the priority.

There may indeed be illnesses as claimed but it has not been ascertained. All of these illnesses seem to be based in speculation and politicians want to base their laws upon a guess. This actually fails to find the real causes before it turned into law. How does this help anyone? It doesn’t.

Instead of really looking at all sides of the issue and only listening to the squeaky wheels, our leaders fail the ones who need their support the most. Where’s the true leader who can say what is needed the most to the loudest? Are they willing to step up to address the real priorities? Where is that person for these folks who are the 1 in 5 who live in poverty and have to worry about stretching their dollar each month?

Leaders sometimes have to make unpopular decisions at time and not duck from what is right. Yes, GMOs and pesticides are the hot topic now, however the data collected shows otherwise.

Photo Credit

It was reported yesterday on HPR that some 600 pieces of testimony came in regarding the anti-pesticide bill.  Rep. Chris Lee and the rest of his committee felt very confident in passing it through because of it.  Just because it appears to have a lot of support doesn’t make it the right thing to do.  Why did few people speak up to begin with?

For one thing, speaking up against these activists makes one an immediate target to very ugly actions.  No one wants to subjected to being accused of crimes against humanity.

So it’s not surprising why the politicians don’t hear much from people on the issue when you’ll be subjected to these kinds of tactics.

Well, for continuing to speak for our family farm, the latest thing these activists are doing is attempting to smear those who speak out.  It turns out that Naomi Carmona of the Babes Against Biotech has gone on a domain fishing hunt by buying up anyone’s name who doesn’t support them.  Take a look at what she has purchased.

Yes, why would anyone bother to speak up when you’ll get cyber squatted and possibly bullied that way? Oh, yes, and she has gone even further by actually purchasing a blog post and posting something on me!

It really doesn’t bother me that these activists do this type of thing.  It’s only a reflection of the kind of people they truly are.  They continue to claim that I have no aloha and I don’t do what is pono but the evidence shows otherwise. Posting what you and your followers state is called holding you accountable. You said it and should be responsible for it, if not, don’t say it. Honestly, what normal person goes out and buys domains of people whom disagrees with you and puts a website under it? Isn’t that an attempt to cyber bully to send people at me? Sure appears that way.

The bottom line is that when you speak up in Hawaii, these anti-aloha folks prove themselves over and over again.  They may be numerous and loud but it doesn’t make them right.  Instead of debating on facts, they resort to personal attacks.  It just validates that facts are useless in these issues. While the politicians heard from just 18 opposers and some 600 supporters, it’s doesn’t add to any justifications.

How did Ashley Lukens of the Center for Food Safety and folks get so many to send testimony in? Easy. Align with Naomi and her Babes Against Biotech. These anti-aloha groups are one in the same. Let’s give them a little rope and see if they can do what is pono.