PRESS RELEASEContact: Walter Ritte @ 658-0406
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GMO Protest on Molokai
Saturday May 1, 2010 @ 8am
Lanikeha Community Center, Hoolehua
This Saturday, Molokai residents will protest against GMO crops on their island. At an Ag Fair organized by local farmers to celebrate Molokai agriculture, protesters will say that giant chemical companies like Monsanto and Dow Mycogen are not welcome here.
These large international companies are using Molokai as a huge, unregulated, open-field testing ground to grow chemical-resistant corn plants so they can market their GMO seeds around the world. Molokai families are worried about the health of the workers who handle the chemicals. People who depend on the land and ocean to feed their families are worried about long-term effects on the island’s environment. But most people are afraid to go public with their concerns because they need the jobs. Meanwhile, the government is not regulating these companies to protect our people or our island.
Monsanto leases more than 1,000 acres from Molokai Ranch. And Dow Mycogen uses hundreds more acres - some of it on Hawaiian Home Lands - to grow its GMO crops.
Monsanto and Dow Mycogen didn’t start out as traditional farming companies. They started out as chemical companies, manufacturing things like “agent orange” for the military. When agent orange was sprayed on troops in Vietnam, it caused lifelong damage to our veterans. Both companies got into the GMO business by manufacturing chemical products that killed plants. Most famous is Monsanto’s Roundup. On Molokai, Monsanto is growing “Roundup Ready Corn Seeds” that can survive massive toxic doses of Roundup. Although Roundup is proven to be a toxic substance, Monsanto has no program to monitor whether it is causing harm to their workers or to our environment.
The GMO companies plow up the topsoil and leave most of it bare so it can blow away or erode into the ocean when it rains. Erosion is killing Molokai’s reefs, and the GMO companies aren’t helping. Studies show that Glyphosate, the main chemical in Roundup, can cause cancer, reproductive problems, and even nerve damage. And overuse of Roundup on GMO crops is beginning to create “super weeds” that resist Roundup and can’t be killed by other herbicides.
Meanwhile, GMO genes are crossing with native seeds. And when Monsanto discovers GMO plants growing in a traditional farmer’s field, they sue the farmer for “stealing.” Monsanto has sued hundreds of farmers in the US and Canada, and put some out of business.
Politically, Monsanto has connections all the way to the White House. And in Hawaii, key legislators, including Speaker of the House Calvin Say, get money from the GMO companies. Say he has introduced legislation to exempt GMO companies from government regulation. And the top two candidates for Governor are also working with Monsanto.
Huge GMO companies are not going to protect Molokai. The government is not going to protect Molokai. We are going to have to protect ourselves!
Aloha Kakou,
Attached please find our press release regarding our GMOPROTEST slated for May 1st.
My contact numbers are: Home808-5679415 Cell 808-6580406
Walter Ritte
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