I remember when I was 5 years old and developed an insatiable love of reading.  I would find anything to read from magazines to comic books.  I even would take my dad’s dictionary and try to look up new words.  It was thrilling to be able to read as a kid.

One day, I had picked up a calendar and looked up my birthday, January 15th.  To my surprise, I saw it marked as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday too.  I asked my parents who this man one was and they gave me a bit of history on what he did.  I was in awe that I shared the same birthday as a great person.  To a 5 year old, it’s just the greatest news in the world to learn these things.

On the day I had learned about MLK, I had an appointment with a doctor that day.  I remember going into his office and jubilantly  telling him about what I had learned.  I was hoping that he’d be as excited as I was knowing that I shared a birthday with a great man.  To my disappoinment, the doctor replied to me, “Well, he’s just a black man.”  I was heartbroken as a kid and it’s something I never forgot.

The more I grew up and learned about Dr. King and what he did, I always remained proud that I had the same birthday as him.  He was one man who did something very brave to make things better for people.  He inspired so many to join him in making a right from a wrong even though it was an unpopular and very dangerous stance to take.  To me, he was more than just a black man, but a real inspiration to so many that helped to change the world.

I never realized that one day, I’d set foot in the National Civil Rights Museum while visiting Memphis.  This museum was build around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was assassinated.  It also houses the bus where Rosa Parks had boarded and is filled with other historical artifacts around the civil rights movement.  I was overcome with emotion as I walked around this museum.  It was the same sadness that overwhelmed me when I visited the Holocaust Museum.  I still get emotional just thinking about what people faced in this century.

Dr. King was just one many who inspired many to change the status quo for many people.  His movement made things better for so many.  One man changed the world for so many generations.  What he did shows us that in our own actions, we too have the power the change the future.  Joining the popular, transient movements aren’t always the right thing to pursue.  We have to strategically look at the things that will affect generations to come.  Teaching our children to look to the future and inspiring to be innovators and creative and critical things is an investment for their future.  Like farmers planting the right seeds for the best crops, we as a society must cultivate the right environment that will foster a brighter future.

My birthday wish is that we continue to grow as people and cultivate a desire to learn and end fear of what isn’t understood.  We can’t sustain a community of people remain fearful and resistive to collaboration.  We don’t encourage our children to gossip and spread false rumors in schools so why should adults continue to do that? Genuine leaders will take the hard step of standing up for the facts and being a good example to others.  We already have enough divisiveness in our country and in Hawaii and it’s time to start the healing and move forward.  It’s time for it now and we all deserve a Hawaii filled with aloha.

 
I decided today I’d get some shopping done after work and stopped at Times Supermarket.  As I was picking my produce, I glanced over at the checkout counter to anticipate how busy it was.  I noticed that nearly 1 in 10 customers checking out did not use reusable bags.  The majority of people were leaving with at least 3 of the thicker plastic bags in their carts.

I had to laugh inside about this.  In Honolulu county, the environmentalists celebrated passing a plastic bag ban several years ago.  Despite this “win” for them, I can’t help but question if it truly is making a positive impact if I still see plastic bags around.  

Not only are thicker bags around, I’ve got a stock pile of paper bags now because my husband forgets his reusable bags.  These bags tear way more easily and are much harder to carry when you’re in tow with a wiggly toddler and school backpacks.  These are filling up our closet.

  
The part bags and the thicker bags clearly require more energy and input to produce.  So I have to think if we really are saving the land with these actions?  Have we made a greener choice?

If I look at the environmental legislation passed in Hawaii, I think that the short feel good laws haven’t been thought through enough before being passes.  Another example of poor legislation is the tourism issue at Hanauma Bay.

In this past week, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported on high volume of tourists coming in via taxis.  A law was passed to curb tour companies from bringing in bus loads of people to minimize the impact on the bay. It apparently isn’t working since there is a loophole with other modes of transportation.  Was the law really fulfilling its intent?

The same type of thinking applies to the anti-GMO issue.  With all the fear mongering around biotech, the green groups aligned with the Hawaiians to demand a ban on biotech taro research.  Instead of keeping an option open to build some evidence on how to address major plant dieseases that could devastate the crops, the shortsighted thinkers took away a tool.  What is evident is that a new disease is hitting farmers and what tools will they have sustain their livelihoods?  Where in mythology was there a way to save a figure?  

With companies caving to GM free ingredients, there is a consequence.  It might mean more insecticides and different management of weed control.  So consumers who associate GM with pesticides may actually be returning us to using more of it.  To the consumer who is feeling like they saved the earth by their purchases, they actually did the opposite in reality.  

I’m starting to wonder if going green is really a good thing if the ones backing it are setting us up for failures in the future.  Did we consider all the consequences before setting to legislate on the issue? If we didn’t ask more questions, then we didn’t look closely enough at the results of our action.

Then again, going green has had a good result in some ways.  We have thicker plastic bags to hold more dog poop with and bags that don’t fly away!

Little kids have no filter in what they will say about things.  My five year old, Katelyn, always reminds me of that daily.  A few days ago she told me that she wanted to become a dentist and fix people’s teeth.  I asked her why she wanted to do that.

She sat and pondered for a brief moment then stated that she wanted more people to have nice teeth.  She went on to tell me that she wanted to fix her papa’s teeth because they didn’t look very nice.  She sat and thought for a bit, then asked me why was his teeth so ugly.

I told her that her papa, my dad, grew up very poor.  As a kid, going to the dentist meant money being spent.  The only time they went to the dentist was if they absolutely needed it.  She was totally shocked that he didn’t go every so often like she does when he was her age.  Katelyn was very surprised.  My kids have never known poverty.

I went on to tell her how he spent time with his dad combing the dump to find metal scraps and parts to be reused.  She couldn’t believe that he did that as a kid.  I told her that without money, you had to use things that people no longer wanted.  There was no Home Depots around to buy hardware or other building supplies.  She couldn’t believe there were no shopping malls either.

I asked her if she knew how papa got food as a kid.  She stated confidently, “A market!” I said nope, not a market.  My grandparents raised their own food from chickens, pigs, and dairy cows.  Eating chicken meant killing the bird and cleaning it.  She pondered it a bit and asked about the feathers and the blood, to which I confirmed that it was messy.

I asked if she knew how papa got milk.  She didn’t know so I told her that papa’s mom would milk the cows and then boil it before serving it.  They didn’t have a refrigerator back then so milk had to be made daily.

I even told her how my dad didn’t need a toy box either.  Everything he played with was homemade.  He’d even use bits of aluminum foil to make something to play with.  Used tin cans also made a toys too.  Some rope and a bunch of banana stumps could form a raft.  There was no TV or computers back then.

  
Katelyn was simply amazed to learn about my dad’s childhood.  I asked her if she wanted to live like he did and she said no way.  I asked her why.  Her reply was that she liked having a nice dentist, toys, and a refrigerator.  

It’s funny that little kids can grasp the concept of how hard life was back in the old days.  Too many adults can’t even understand that when life back then was tough and yet is romanticized that it was better.  We have life pretty easy thanks to the hard work of those farmers who are so efficient.  Katelyn, a five year old, got that and even said she felt lucky.  

We are lucky and one would think we would be grateful for it.  Maybe that is a lesson that hasn’t been learned by the people behind the anti-agriculture movement.  What happened to showing thankfulness for what we have?

If the adults can’t model gratitude, what example does that set for the next generation?

I have three kids with two in grade school.  I love them dearly but I do go a little crazy when it comes to doing homework.  Actually, I feel like tearing my hair out much of the time.

Why? The new learning style of reading and writing means letting the child use phonetics to write the word out and not correct them.  It’s pretty frustrating when your kids wants you to tell them all the letters instead of doing the sounding out part, which is tedious and very time consuming.  It also means less playtime on the IPod or outside.  A lot of brainpower is needed and parental patience is needed throughout this ordeal.

As I sit to do this homework with my daughter, she is quick to demand that I simply tell her the letter.  She will tell me, “It’s too hard for me! Just tell me how to spell the words!”  I always have to remind her about the guidelines that was given to allow the child to put down what they think and correct it above the sentence.  It teaches them how to apply the phonetics to reading and writing.

My second daughter is a perfectionist that wants all the right letters and gets really ornery about it.  “Just tell me Momma!” She’ll scream this over and over.  I’ll stand my ground and remind her to try so that she can learn.  I sometimes feel like my head will explode at times listening to this.

As I watched her throw a hissy fit, I was reminded about the Just Label It and US Right to Know campaigns with their catchy slogans.  They tell their followers to demand their right and demand mandatory labeling.  There is no mention about learning the science behind ag technology or the issues farmers face.  These groups don’t even educate people about how organic crops are grown and the bugs or the inputs needed.  Nothing of the sort is ever mentioned in any of their literature or websites.  They demand transparency of others but don’t even practice what they preach.

There’s no mention about learning why or how the organic industry’s history or information on how they produce their crops.  Not a shred of transparency about how many pounds of pesticides are used per acre or the estimated energy expenditure is required for this method.  Nothing of this sort is ever mentioned.  It’s all about THEIR rights and no one else’s.  Protest, protest about your rights and forget the consequences it may have on others because it’s all about ME, ME, ME and MY FOOD! As I look at this, they are angry adults who are refusing to learn and trying to put the onus on everyone else’s expense and inconvenience.

I see this as human behavior to turn emotional to take the easy route.  Giving my daughter the letters would save me a nice hour of no frustration but it does her no favors.  It teaches her that if she makes enough noise and whining, she’ll get her way.  In truth, it handicaps her in the future.  She won’t have the perseverance and know how to figure something out when I’m not around.  It also absolves her from being responsible for her own actions to face the hard work of critically thinking and navigating her own world.  

This is no different then simply giving a package of food or a papaya a GMO label.  There’s no learning involved to know what it took to get that product.  That little sticker will make these smug food elitists happy but then it just rewards all the protests and encourages no learning and dialogue about this technology.  That’s the consequence I see as a result to caving to demands and handing them an inch. We will only to find that they’ll take a mile and then seek a ban or tell the poor that GM foods are dangerous because it’s labeled.

As a mother, I know that I can’t be there to dig my child out of every difficult moment.  My child should have the necessary tools to be successful no matter where is is and that’s the most powerful lesson I can give her.  My parents instilled that in me the love of learning and discovery.

Imagine if the Big Island GM ban had been upheld and dengue fever ravaged the island.  The GM mosquito that could have been used would be a pipe dream because we listened to the angry voices who never considered the consequences.  It is no different for the banana crops being hit by disease and the Babes Against Biotech trying to block research that could save our farmers.  The loudest voices doesn’t mean that they are right and we should demand that they present evidence based information to back their stance.  Simply listening to a loud voice isn’t going to save lives or help anyone.  It’s time for dialogue and those who are ready to participate should be invited.

While the legislature is starting their session, we have to remember that they are leaders of the land.  They can give the public cop outs with considering bills that lack any urgency or necessity, or they can do the hard work by setting the example by actually setting priorities and use our resources wisely. We have a lot of pressing needs ahead of us that need good foresight to determine the best decision and planning.  What we do now affects our keiki’s future.

In a time when farmers are calling it quits and the next generation is struggling to carry on legacies, I hope that the 2016 Hawaii State Legislature does what is Pono to malama the people.

That is aloha.

Where’s the food among the weeds?

This morning as I was sitting in traffic, the song playing on the radio was, “Do they know it’s Christmas?” I’ve always hummed the tune but this time I really paid attention to the lyrics.

This year, this song has a completely different meaning for me.  It’s easy for us to get caught up in the gift buying and holiday madness.  That is completely trivial to me when I know that some of the new friends I made in the Cornell Alliance for Science fellowship live where many people don’t even have the basics of food, shelter, and clean water.  I feel really selfish wanting things I really don’t need.

The original BandAid song was played over 30 years ago and one of the key phrases in in that song is, “Feed the World.” We were all singing these words some 3 decades ago but not really grasping what it meant.  I have seen so many anti-biotech activists saying that the feed the world message is “multinational agrochemical company propaganda” and completely dismiss it.  30 years ago the trend was not farmer bashing of shouting out Monsanto.  It was a different time.

Fast forward to the present and I discovered that there is an updated version of the same song.

The message is still the same.  There are so many others who aren’t as lucky as us in well fed, wealthy countries.  Even in my own state there are people who don’t have much, including children.  We don’t have to drive far to see the homeless living on the streets, under bridges, and on the beaches.

We can give what we can to help others in our own community and even beyond, in the global community.  You don’t have to have lots of money to make someone’s life better.  You can simply come out in support of something that can help people.

My gift to the world is supporting science for the betterment of improving lives.  That investment to help others can hopefully give a world of peace for my children.  Will you do that for all children?