One terrific benefit of being a farmer’s daughter is that I do get paid in the form of some “junk” fruits.  Junk meaning that it can’t be sold in the store because it isn’t the right shape or size or has some cosmetic blemish on it.  The fruit itself are perfectly fine but just ugly really.

Some of the fruit I got this week for shilling for the farm was amazingly huge.  Here’s one of the mega ones I ate the other day.

This beauty weighed in at about 2.5 lbs and had a deep orange flesh that was super sweet.  The Brix reading was about 14 which makes it super sweet and delicious.  The flesh was really fleshy and so ono!

My breakfast tomorrow will be this nice beauty that my daughter is holding.  It is nearly the size of her head and just as gorgeous.  It is just under 2.5 lbs also.

The more I look at the size of these fruits, it made me realize that yes, farmers are smart folks.  They choose the GMO seeds to grow strong healthy trees that yield great fruit like these.  One fruit makes for 2 or 3 servings and it all came from one tree.  That’s a smaller environmental impact when you have a super productive tree indeed.

Just look at the fruits and how productive they are.  It is clear that those smart papaya farmers who choose GMO really do know why GMO has saved their industry.

A few weeks ago, my daughter’s 3rd grade teacher asked me to come to her class to speak about what it was like to grow up on a farm.  They were in the midst of doing a history project to learn about something of valuable in their family.  She felt that the kids would learn a thing or two hearing my stories as many kids have no idea about what it’s like to be farm kid.

In my talks to kids, I really love engaging them and asking them questions to get them to participate in the talk.  I really want them to think about how their childhood compares mine as it is starkly different.

The first question I asked them was, “Who grew up on a farm?”  Surprisingly, one girl raised her hand and said that she grew up for a short time in Waimanalo, which is also very rural.  For the majority of the kids, none knew what it was like to grow up on the farm.  I decided to expand on the stories of what I did as a kid on the farm.

I decided to ask them what kinds of toys they had and where it came from.  Most said they played video games or had something bought in a store that they loved to play with.  I told them that the outdoors was my playground.  We didn’t have a lot of money so we weren’t loaded with toys like the kids of today are.  I did have a doll and a few items but not hoards of toys.  The farm was my playground.  I’d toss up stones, scour trees for bugs, pick fruits and jojo beans, catch butterflies, scoop fish, ride tractors and bulldozers, and play with mud.  Some kids had done some of these things, but not many.  

I asked them if they ever made a toy.  Most kids didn’t even think that they could make something to play with, other than Lego that is.  I told them about how my dad was the expert recycler of what most people thought of as junk.  He’d use an old tire and some rope and turn it into a swing for us.  He would also use an inner tube from a tractor tire with a piece of plywood and turn it into a raft.  Pieces of bamboo were used to make a bow and arrow that I’d shoot out in the field.  Hand tools were also my toys as I could use them to make my own slingshots or other homemade gadgets from the “junks” or other stuff found outside.  The wonderment in these kids’ eyes were amazing as they had never thought to do such things.

Many kids also said that they loved to watch TV.  I told them how TV was not a ritual for me and my siblings growing up.  Saturdays were spent waking up way early and having your lovely sleep disrupted by a busy father.  He’d turn on all the lights and pull off the covers to get us out of bed to get ready for the farm.  We’d spend the day working on the farm with processing the papayas, planting, or cleaning the trees.  

There was no time to fool around, time was precious and valuable to keep the operations going.  There were break times where my siblings and I would sneak down to the stream and catch guppies or make dams to catch tilapia.  Other times we’d walk the field and dig up old relics like bumboocha marbles or other trinkets in the dirt.  (I didn’t tell them about the naughties we did like learning how to light up banana leaves and turn them into fake cigarettes.  That’s a sure way to stop anyone from wanting to smoke!)

I asked the kids if any had rode on a tractor before and a handful had through visits to the pumpkin patch.  I shared the story about how my dad used the backhoe and graded the land and created a huge mountain of dirt.  I asked if they knew what could be done with that dirt hill.  One student figured it out and said, “Slide down it!”  This magnificent dirt hill was a kids dream filled with soft dirt and small pebbles.  My brother and I called it dog food mound and it was a daily ritual of climbing it and sliding down.  Definitely a kid’s dream come true that these third graders were bubbling with excitement to hear of.

I closed my talk by reminding them to talk story with their grandmas and grandpas.  I told them that they probably have some terrific stories similar to mine that they should hear.  Many of these kids haven’t sat down to learn about the stories of their family.  They were inspired to now go and ask them about what kind of toys their grandparents played with and what was their playground.  These kids were really excited during my sharing and even more excited to go out and hear of neat stories in their own family.

By talking and sharing my stories, I’ve come to realize that the more we talk about what we do, the better other’s can appreciate it.  The more we teach others and open minds to the wonders of the world and keep them curious, the more we have seekers of knowledge.  We have to keep sharing our stories with the younger generations to know how and why we are so lucky to be able to do the things we can.  

I had to add in one last bit of hurrah to end it.  I reminded them that they can do all the things in life because someone did a great thing by learning how to feed lots of people really well.  That person was a farmer and I am lucky enough to have grown up a farmer’s daughter.

For the past two years now, it seems that the barrage of anti-GMO sentiment would never end.  In 2012, the farmers were hit with the GMO labeling bills and the Babes Against Biotech.  Then again last year, the same sentiment continued yet again.  Two whole years of fighting and speaking out for your family farm and biotechnology can get exhausting.  There is always something to fight against and after awhile, it gets really tiring having to defend yourself.

I was just lamenting to a fellow farming agvocate the other day about getting weary from all of this.  I thought I’d take a break from blogging to give my mind some rest.  I felt as if I had run out of ideas and thoughts already.  Taking a hiatus was what I thought I’d do last night that is.

Early this morning, before the sun was even up, my brother Mike and I went down to the State Capitol for the Eat a Papaya Day.  We packed up freshly ripened fruit and other supplies to help advocate for the papaya farmers across our island.

We had our signs made that showed the drivers what our event was about and had lots of samples to hand out to pedestrians and drivers.  We had papaya farmers from the Big Island join us as well as other biotech farmers alongside.

We handed out some 400 samples this morning along with whole papayas that were donated by the farmers.  We were really well received by the majority of people who were really thankful and excited to “Try a Papaya.”  How many times can get some a free papaya handed to you?!

There was a single homeless, half naked man who initially took two papayas but returned them after being told that it was GMO.  (Amazing that a homeless person can be so choosy!)

Shortly after our campaigning with the public on Beretania Street ended, we were treated to even more help.  More biotech farmers joined along with the papaya farmers and we walked the floors of the Capitol and visited legislators.  Seeing all of the people around us that shared the bond of biotechnology and talking to many of them, it reinvigorated me even more to continue to speak out.  It was just what I needed today to continue to speak out for this technology that helped save our farm and others.

So many people, including legislators, got to hear the story about how biotechnology saved our farm.  I also met many people that I only know online today that have read my thoughts here.  It’s amazing to know that people are hearing the farmers out like ours.

I’ve really come to realize that so many people are also linked to the papayas through our common bond of biotechnology.   The common bond is that we are all people and that we are using a technology to help people from farmers to the consumers who appreciate our products.

Thoughts to ponder…

Imagine the streets bustling with excited protesters. Imagine their placards: anti-GMO, anti-wifi, anti-vaccine, anti-western-medicine. A collection of sentiments that is tied together by a common ethic: a sense that modernity poses a looming threat, that science and progress has run amok, and that humanity is on the verge of great calamity, disaster even, if we do not stop progress dead in its tracks, reexamine the foundational assumptions that underly our understanding of the world, and apply an extreme caution to any further exploration or development.

Amongst that diverse assembly of humanity, earnestly waving their placards in defence of Mother Nature against the callous onslaught of modernization, how many of them would not exist today if not for the very same technologically driven advancement which they bemoan?

How many would have never been born if their parents or grandparents had succumb to any of the many deadly childhood diseases which have now been eradicated by vaccines? One in six?

How many would not exist today without their grandparents who emigrated from the developing world, having been among the one billion humans who survived famine due to the agricultural advancements of the 50s and 60s? One in seven?

How many are alive today because of insulin, produced by genetically engineered bacteria? Or how many survived infections, historically fatal, with a simple dose of antibiotics? One in every five?

How many of them rely on wireless communication technologies to get their anti-technology news? To share that information? To organize their rallies? How many would have missed the event without smart phones, cell towers, and free wifi at Starbucks?

I find it ironic to think how sparse the crowds would be. How few placards would be seen. How few anti-modernity protesters would exist, we’re it not for the very products of modernization which they despise.

We stand at the edge of the warm sunrise of the springtime of our civilization. Stand aside please. Don’t block my sun.

-D. Nelson Caswell

I am always interested in learning more about the role of biotechnology in the world and had a great privilege to get a blog post from a Monsanto Multi-System Program Lead, Mark Wood.  Read on and learn about Hawaii’s role in feeding the world.

There are many urban myths about the company I work for, and I encourage folks to please take the time to learn who we really are and what we really do, so they can separate fact from fiction.

What I’d like to do in this guest blog is share with you why I willingly choose to work for Monsanto and why the work I do matters so much to me personally.  The feel of dirt under your fingers and a pride knowing you planted that crop keeps me coming to work everyday.

Where I grew up in Western Oklahoma, the dirt is red – as red as we have here in Hawaii – and farmers had to survive on 14 inches of rain a year. There were shelter belts to protect dry soil from being blown away, and dust bowls were a real concern. Over the years, I began to see how much impact one inch of water can have on a crop for feed, food and ultimately, a livelihood. I developed a passion for conservational tillage and what farmers can do to conserve soil and be more sustainable.

Prior to joining Monsanto, I served as an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, where I focused on evaluating new herbicides, irrigation systems and ways to conserve soil in a state that needs to conserve every inch of water and soil it can. When I was given an opportunity to work for Monsanto, I was also given an opportunity to make a real difference in the place where I lived and eventually, globally. I joined the company because Monsanto focused on sustainable production and is as passionate about agriculture as I am. It allowed me to research sustainable farming practices, and to help farmers.

At Monsanto, I focused on improving dryland yields by combining our genetics research with strip-till and no-till cropping systems. It was rewarding work. I partnered with universities,  other seed companies and farmers to collaborate on how we could conserve more and produce more.

In 2004, I transferred to another part of our business that focused on developing the drought trait. This research team was working to develop improved varieties of corn that were better able to tolerate drought conditions. What an exciting benefit it would be for farmers in places like where I grew up. As I visited other countries, I quickly realized the tremendous potential this trait could have for farmers in many places.

Like all biotech traits, this drought trait has traveled a long road to get to market. It has taken almost 12 years to get to where we are today, at a cost of almost $150 million. Why is the cost worth mentioning? The fact that it takes 12 years and $150 million to launch a product underscores the amount of time it takes to research, develop and undergo the regulatory process required to make that trait available to the farmers who want it. By comparison, conventional (non-biotech) products undergo less regulatory scrutiny and can be brought to market in about two-thirds the time.

In 2011, I moved to Hawaii and currently oversee our Multi-Season Program, which supports our corn breeding nurseries. During one of my nursery tours, I took a picture and posted it, highlighting the value of Hybrid Production vs. Open Pollinated corn production.  The advantage of corn hybrids is that they yield more and use fewer resources, and the end result is we can feed more.

The large ear of corn in this photo is a hybrid. The one on the bottom is from a maize variety relevant to Africa. So what does this have to do with our work in Hawaii?

Monsanto is working with other key stakeholders to launch a project called Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA). Africa has experience severe droughts over the past 10 years – a severe problem when you’re trying to grow enough food to feed millions. The WEMA project seeks to help farmers in Africa address some of these challenges. Monsanto’s contributions include providing maize germplasm (genetic materials of a plant, such as seeds) to help the plant breeding efforts, offering technical expertise to develop and deploy locally adapted maize hybrids, and donating our commercial drought-tolerance and insect-protection traits royalty-free. Some of this very important work is being carried out at our nurseries in Hawaii. We would not be able to do this important humanitarian work if there were bans on GMOs.

There are many myths about Monsanto in Hawaii, but this is something that is real and that everyone Hawaii can feel proud of. Supporting biotechnology means supporting a beneficial technology that helps to feed you and helps to feed people in places where one meal a day is sometimes a luxury.

We operate our nurseries in Hawaii with three goals in mind: produce more, conserve more and improve the lives of others. I am proud to be a part of a company that allows me the freedom to focus on sustainable production, partner with great organizations that help others, and give back to the communities where we live and work.

We are always open for dialogue. All we ask for is an open mind that separates fact from fiction.  Check us out at MonsantoHawaii.com, look us up on Facebook at Monsanto Hawaii and/or follow us on Twitter, @MonsantoHawaii.

It seems to me that whenever there is a post on Civil Beat or on the Star Advertiser about GMOs, there is repetitive comment that I frequently see there.  Many anti-GMO activists have made the statement that because papayas are GMOs, they are “drenched with pesticides.”

Apparently, it seems to me that these activists don’t quite know about the the growing of food and why papayas were GM to begin with.  Watch this video to get a good understanding of the modification made to papayas.

When people think that biotech papayas are “drenched with RoundUp,” it really shows the lack of understanding of agriculture in general.  RoundUp is for weeds that are found on the ground that will compete for nutrients that the tree needs.

Weeds create stress on plants and affect the quality of the produce one is trying to grow.  Try to grow some plants among a brush of weeds and see what happens.  It won’t grow or give you any produce.  If you get rid of the weeds by digging it up or tilling it, you reduce the stress on the plant and you get better fruits.  Tilling does disrupt the soil and can lead to run off problems.

Also note that herbicides like RoundUp costs money.  Just take a look at how much it actually cost to buy in the gardening store.

This stuff is not cheap at all and if you think a farmer would wantonly waste it, you’ve got to out of your mind.  Farmers are resourceful with their supplies and equipment.  They have very tight margins and if you think they’d waste this stuff, you don’t know a farmer.  They need to make money, not spray it away.

So if you should read a comment that papayas are drenched in pesticides, please note the truth to it.  Weeds are on the ground and papayas are up on the trees.  The fruit isn’t drenched in RoundUp because it isn’t a weed.

As this election year is starting to culminate about, once again, the airwaves are being filled with promises of “Making Hawaii better.”  The phrase sounds really nice and stirs up emotions in people to aspire to do such a such a thing when running for office.  However, once in office, and seeing the kind of legislation being put on table, I start to think that these words are really meaningless.

The working class citizens are struggling and I feel like the leaders don’t see this at all.  Many like myself, are employed full time and making decent salaries but they sure aren’t going up any time soon.  Nor has it gone up more than a percent since moving back home in 2006.  What is going up is everything around here.

From basic goods like food, housing, and utilities as well as taxes and fees, everything is rising except our incomes.  I’m left with less money at the end of the month as a result.  I could choose to work a second job to supplement my income, but there is no time when you have a young family, care for a disabled grandmother, and already holding a 40 hour a week job.  I can only handle so much and want some semblance of a decent quality of life.

I am not the only one who feels the squeeze of what’s happening.  The elderly folks here are also feeling the same burden as working folks.  They are on limited incomes and when the cost of goods and services rise, they have to figure out how to make ends meet.  These folks are very much worried about how their incomes will sustain them as people are living longer too.

When I start to hear the campaign promises of “I’m working for you,” I really want that person to genuinely mean it and show it in their actions.  If you are making a promise, then you should actually keep that promise to fulfill your intent, if you really meant it.  I teach my children to stay true to their word as it reflects our integrity about what we say and do.  It is a duty to do so.

Politicians are great at having photo shots of themselves with the “people.”  Then they turn around and make laws that actually turn out to be bad for the people.  What’s the deal here?  Are you listening to us or only listening to the loudest of the activists with their demands and shortsighted thinking?  That kind of decisions will only lead to many unintended consequences, which we have seen over and over again with poorly thought out legislation.

The kinds of legislation being introduced this year are an interesting mishmash of interests to say the least.  I read some of these bills and I have to scratch my head as to how does this help the working class folks and those on limited incomes.

SB2944: Legalizing Anti-Everything Events

“The legislature finds that there exists educational retreat communities within Hawaii that provide instruction programs relating to nature, culture, wellness, and sustainable living in the spirit of ‘ohana and aloha; and that such retreats helps the community by providing agricultural food production, education, employment, energy, recreation, services, supplies, and safety.” 

My take on it is that it sounds like a legalization of anti-everything rallies.  When the word sustainable comes from something that Puna senator introduces, it only means one thing…  Anti-GMO.

SB1987: Legalization of Raw Milk Shares

“Permits the acquisition of raw milk and raw milk products by owners of cows, goats, and sheep and cow shares, goat shares, and sheep shares if certain conditions are met. Requires farms and dairies that produce raw milk or raw milk products to register with the department of health. Permits farms and dairies to set up a location near an improved road to distribute their products to owners of cow, sheep, or goat shares. Prohibits the sale and redistribution of raw milk and raw milk products.”

The evidence has shown that people have died or been severely disabled by the consumption of raw milk and its products.  We have a representative, who is aligned with groups that claim that GM foods are dangerous, but then wants to support raw milk.  GM food has not killed anyone but we are trying to legalize something that has killed and maimed? Some thing does not make sense here!

SB2521: Label GM foods and jail the food growers

“Requires labeling of foods, including raw agricultural commodities, processed food, and seed or seed stock, that have been genetically engineered or deems them misbranded. Provides a penalty for violations and authorizes private civil enforcement of the Act.”

Once again, our brilliant legislators have decided to take on the curious consumers’ “right to know” claims to label food and punish anyone who doesn’t do so with jail, fines, or a lawsuit.  That is a promising step forward to securing Hawaii’s affordable food supply indeed.

SB2571: Label Cell Phones and it’s untested dangers

“Requires all cellular telephones, including refurbished and remanufactured cellular telephones, sold or leased by a retailer in the State to bear a label that encourages consumers to follow the enclosed product safety guidelines to reduce exposure to radiation that may be hazardous to their health.”

Cell phones have been on the market for how many years without a single human test shown before it was released.  More safety testing has been done on GM foods then on a cell phone.  Now remind me why we need to label this?  We’d better ask the state to also put huge signs all over warning us of the dangers of the sun and it’s radiation on every single home.  That’s a proven danger that needs a label.

SB2366: Raise the Minimum Wage Raise Cost of Living for All

“Increases the amount of guaranteed monthly compensation required to exempt an individual from minimum wage, overtime, and record keeping requirements under the Hawaii wage and hour law. Establishes a formula for calculation of the guaranteed monthly compensation that pays guaranteed monthly compensation to the applicable minimum wage rate.”

This law sounds appealing in that it may raise the incomes of those making minimum wage, but you have to ask where is this going to come from? Someone is going to have to fund this raise.  It’s going to come from the a rise in consumer prices as employers will have to reshift the burden of this.  The raise in prices will also translate into higher costs to provide benefits to the employee also.  If money grew on trees, this would be a great law but there is always a burden upon someone when only half of the issue is addressed in this case.

The rise in minimum wage is to address the cost of living for people making it.  Instead of tinkering with wages, why not look at ways to make the overall cost of living in Hawaii better for all?  Raising the minimum wage is one of those shortsighted laws that will have more unintended consequences that will materialize after the fact.

The Helpfulness Factor of Proposed Legislation: ZERO

As I keep hearing more and more about these proposed laws, I have to stop and ask, “How does this make my life any better?”  For the life of me, I can’t figure it out?  Is any of these laws going to make living here more affordable?  Is it going to truly improve my quality of life? Will it help those in need?  Will it end our month to month struggles to make ends meet?

Somehow it doesn’t even touch upon the key issues that the people Hawaii really could use about now.  Does the public deserve some consideration on laws that will actually help them and make an impact on our daily lives?  Yes, we all are expecting that right now.

Our leaders need to sit down and ask themselves, “Have I really done something to better the lives of all in my communities?”  Ask yourself if you’re work has actually solved a problem or added to the problem?  Have you take a consideration as to how your legislation will affect the entire system?  If you haven’t, now is a time to delve deeper as to how everything is connected and interdependent.

Please think about that and actually do what was promised during your campaigns.  So many want to look at the “bigger picture,” but can’t even fathom where or how to even start to consider it.  Everything affects everything is the bottom line.  That’s the big picture…  Look at the system you are trying to change.

By seeing how the world is interconnected, you can have a better view of the consequences of your proposed legislation.  We need that now.  Please step back at the laws you are trying to make now and truly figure out what it will take to make the peoples’ lives better overall.  That’s your duty to each and everyone of us!