Iowa's own DuPont/Pioneer is a major player in the GMO fiasco in Hawaii.
The late H.A. Wallace would surely disown the company that he helped
found.--Tom
============================================================================
==
“For Hawaii’s indigenous peoples, the concepts underlying genetic
manipulation of life forms are offensive and contrary to the cultural values of
"aloha āina [love for the land],” wrote Mililani B. Strask, a native Hawaiian
attorney.
============================================================================
==
EXTRACT: In the current legislative session, there are about a dozen
proposed bills pushing GMO regulation, labeling and a ban on all imported GMO
produce. These fights over mandating GMO labeling and regulation in Hawaii
may seem like a remote issue, but what happens on these isolated islands is
pivotal for land sovereignty movements across the globe.
---
---
Exposed: Monsanto's Chemical War Against Indigenous Hawaiians
AlterNet, April 12 2013
http://www.alternet.org/activism/exposed-monsantos-chemical-war-against-indi
genous-hawaiians
*Hawaiians are fighting back against the GMO giant.
At 9 am on an overcast morning in paradise, hundreds of protesters
gathered in traditional Hawaiian chant and prayer. Upon hearing the sound of the
conch shell, known here as Pū, the protesters followed a group of women
towards Monsanto’s grounds.
“A’ole GMO,” cried the mothers as they marched alongside Monsanto’s
cornfields, located only feet from their homes on Molokai, one of the smallest
of Hawaii’s main islands. In a tiny, tropical corner of the Pacific that
has warded off tourism and development, Monsanto’s fields are one of only a
few corporate entities that separates the bare terrain of the mountains and
oceans.
This spirited march was the last of a series of protests on the five
Hawaiian islands that Monsanto and other biotech companies have turned into the
world’s ground zero for chemical testing and food engineering. Hawaii is
currently at the epicenter of the debate over genetically modified organisms,
generally shortened to GMOs. Because Hawaii is geographically isolated
from the broader public, it is an ideal location for conducting chemical
experiments. The island chain’s climate and abundant natural resources have
lured five of the world’s largest biotech chemical corporations: Monsanto,
Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer and BASF. In the past 20 years,
these chemical companies have performed over 5,000 open-field-test experiments
of pesticide-resistant crops on an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 acres of
Hawaiian land without any disclosure, making the place and its people a guinea
pig for biotech engineering.
The presence of these corporations has propelled one of the largest
movement mobilizations in Hawaii in decades. Similar to the environmental and
land sovereignty protests in Canada and the continental United States, the
movement is influenced by indigenous culture.
“All of the resources that our kapuna [elders] gave to us, we need to take
care of now for the next generation,” said Walter Ritte, a Hawaii
activist, speaking in part in the Hawaiian indigenous language.
“That is our kuleana [responsibility]. That is everybody’s kuleana.”
In Hawaiian indigenous culture, the very idea of GMOs is effectively
sacrilegious.
“For Hawaii’s indigenous peoples, the concepts underlying genetic
manipulation of life forms are offensive and contrary to the cultural values of
"aloha āina [love for the land],” wrote Mililani B. Strask, a native
Hawaiian attorney.
Deadly practices
Monsanto has a long history of making chemicals that bring about
devastation. The company participated in the Manhattan Project to help produce the
atomic bomb during World War II. It developed the herbicide “Agent Orange”
used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War, which caused an
estimated half-million birth deformities. Most recently, Monsanto has driven
thousands of farmers in India to take their own lives, often by drinking
chemical insecticide, after the high cost of the company’s seeds forced them into
unpayable debt.
(WNV/Imani Altemus-Williams)
A Molokai resident expresses joy as the march passes by her home, which is
located across the street from Monsanto’s fields. (WNV/Imani
Altemus-Williams)
The impacts of chemical testing and GMOs are immediate — and, in the
long-term, could prove deadly. In Hawaii, Monsanto and other biotech
corporations have sprayed over 70 different chemicals during field tests of
genetically engineered crops, more chemical testing than in any other place in the
world. Human studies have not been conducted on GMO foods, but animal
experiments show that genetically modified foods lead to pre-cancerous cell
growth, infertility, and severe damage to the kidneys, liver and large
intestines. Additionally, the health risks of chemical herbicides sprayed onto GMO
crops cause hormone disruption, cancer, neurological disorders and birth
defects. In Hawaii, some open-field testing sites are near homes and schools.
Prematurity, adult on-set diabetes and cancer rates have significantly
increased in Hawaii in the last ten years. Many residents fear chemical drift is
poisoning them.
Monsanto’s agricultural procedures also enable the practice of
monocropping, which contributes to environmental degradation, especially on an island
like Hawaii. Monocropping is an agricultural practice where one crop is
repeatedly planted in the same spot, a system that strips the soil of its
nutrients and drives farmers to use a herbicide called Roundup, which is linked
to infertility. Farmers are also forced to use pesticides and fertilizers
that cause climate change and reef damage, and that decrease the
biodiversity of Hawaii.
Food sovereignty as resistance
At the first of the series of marches against GMOs, organizers planted
coconut trees in Haleiwa, a community on the north shore of Oahu Island. In
the movement, protesting and acting as caretakers of the land are no longer
viewed as separate actions, particularly in a region where Monsanto is
leasing more than 1,000 acres of prime agricultural soil.
During the march, people chanted and held signs declaring, “Aloha ‘āina:
De-occupy Hawaii.”
The phrase aloha ‘āina is regularly seen and heard at anti-GMO protests.
Today the words are defined as “love of the land,” but the phrase has also
signified “love for the country.” Historically, it was commonly used by
individuals and groups fighting for the restoration of the independent
Hawaiian nation, and it is now frequently deployed at anti-GMO protests when
people speak of Hawaiian sovereignty and independence.
After the protest, marchers gathered in Haleiwa Beach Park, where they
performed speeches, music, spoken-word poetry and dance while sharing free
locally grown food. The strategy of connecting with the land was also a
feature of the subsequent protest on the Big Island, where people planted taro
before the march, and also at the state capitol rally, where hundreds
participated in the traditional process of pounding taro to make poi, a Polynesian
staple food.
The import economy is a new reality for Hawaii, one directly tied to the
imposition of modern food practices on the island. Ancient Hawaii operated
within the Ahupua’a system, a communal model of distributing land and work,
which allowed the islands to be entirely self-sufficient.
“Private land ownership was unknown, and public, common use of the ahupua’
a resources demanded that boundaries be drawn to include sufficient land
for residence and cultivation, freshwater sources, shoreline and open ocean
access,” explained Carol Silva, an historian and Hawaiian language
professor.
Inspired by the Ahupua’a model, the food sovereignty movement is building
an organic local system that fosters the connections between communities
and their food — a way of resisting GMOs while simultaneously creating
alternatives.
Colonial history
The decline of the Ahupua’a system didn’t only set Hawaii on the path
away from food sovereignty; it also destroyed the political independence of
the now-U.S. state. And indeed, when protesters chant “aloha ‘āina” at
anti-GMO marches, they are alluding to the fact that this fight isn’t only over
competing visions of land use and food creation. It’s also a battle for
the islands’ political sovereignty.
Historically, foreign corporate interests have repeatedly taken control of
Hawaii — and have exploited and mistreated the land and its people in the
process.
“It’s a systemic problem and the GMO issue just happens to be at the
forefront of public debate at the moment,” said Keoni Lee of ʻŌiwi TV. “ʻĀ
ina [land] equals that which provides. Provides for who?”
The presence of Monsanto and the other chemical corporations is eerily
reminiscent of the business interests that led to the overthrow of the
Hawaiian Kingdom. Throughout the 19th century, the Hawaiian Kingdom was recognized
as an independent nation. That reality changed in 1893, when a group of
American businessmen and sugar planters orchestrated a U.S. Marine’s armed
coup d’etat of the Hawaiian Kingdom government.
Five years later, the U.S. apprehended the islands for strategic military
use during the Spanish-American War despite local resistance. Even
then-President Grover Cleveland called the overthrow a “substantial wrong” and
vowed to restore the Hawaiian kingdom. But the economic interests overpowered
the political will, and Hawaii remained a U.S. colony for the following 60
years.
The annexation of Hawaii profited five sugarcane-manufacturing companies
commonly referred to as the Big Five: Alexander & Baldwin, Amfac (American
Factors), Castle & Cooke, C. Brewer, and Theo H. Davies. Most of the
founders of these companies were missionaries who were actively involved in
lobbying for the annexation of the Hawaiian islands in 1898. After the takeover,
the Big Five manipulated great political power and influence in what was
then considered the “Territory of Hawaii,” gaining unparalleled control of
banking, shipping and importing on the island chain. The companies only
sponsored white republicans in government, creating an oligarchy that
threatened the labor force if it voted against their interests. The companies’
environmental practices, meanwhile, caused air and water pollution and altered
the biodiversity of the land.
The current presence of the five-biotech chemical corporations in Hawaii
mirrors the political and economic colonialism of the Big Five in the early
20th century — particularly because Monsanto has become the largest
employer on Molokai.
“There is no difference between the “Big Five” that actually ruled Hawaii
in the past,” said Walter Ritte. “Now it’s another “Big Five,” and they’
re all chemical companies. So it’s almost like this is the same thing. It’
s like déjàvu.”
Rising up
At the opening of this year’s legislative session on January 16, hundreds
of farmers, students and residents marched to the state capitol for a rally
titled “Idle No More: We the People.” There, agricultural specialist and
food sovereignty activist Vandana Shiva, who traveled from India to Hawaii
for the event, addressed the crowd.
“I see Hawaii not as a place where I come and people say, ‘Monsanto is
the biggest employer,’ but people say, ‘this land, its biodiversity, our
cultural heritage is our biggest employer,’” she said.
As she alluded to, a major obstacle facing the anti-GMO movement is the
perception that the chemical corporations provide jobs that otherwise might
not exist — an economic specter that the sugarcane companies also wielded to
their advantage. Anti-GMO organizers are aware of how entrenched this
power is.
(WNV/Imani Altemus-Williams)
Women lead the anti-GMO protest on Molokai in a traditional Hawaiian
chant. (WNV/Imani Altemus-Williams)
“The things that we’re standing up against are really at the core of
capitalism,” proclaimed Hawaiian rights activist Andre Perez at the rally.
Given the enormity of the enemy, anti-GMO activists are attacking the
issue from a variety of fronts, including organizing mass education, advocating
for non-GMO food sovereignty and pushing for legislative protections.
Organizers see education, in particular, as the critical element to win this
battle.
“Hawaii has the cheapest form of democracy,” said Daniel Anthony, a young
local activist and founder of a traditional poi business. “Here we can
educate a million people, and Monsanto is out.”
Others are using art to educate the public, such as Hawaiian rapper Hood
Prince, who rails against Monsanto in his song “Say No to GMO.” This
movement is also educating the community through teach-ins and the free
distribution of the newly released book Facing Hawaii’s Future: Essential
Information about GMOs.
Hawaii has already succeeded in protecting its traditional food from
genetic engineering. Similar to the way the Big Five controlled varying sectors
of society, the biotech engineering companies are financially linked to the
local government, schools and university. Monsanto partially funds the
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of
Hawaii. The university and the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center began the
process of genetically engineering taro in 2003 after the university patented
three of its varieties. Once this information became widely known, it
incited uproar of objection from the Hawaiian community. Taro holds spiritual
significance in the islands’ indigenous culture, in which it is honored as the
first Hawaiian ancestor in the creation story.
“It felt like we were being violated by the scientific community,” wrote
Ritte inFacing Hawaii’s Future. “For the Hawaiian community, taro is not
just a plant. It’s a family member. It’s our common ancestor ‘Haloa ….
They weren’t satisfied with just taking our land; now they wanted to take our
mana, our spirit too.”
The public outcry eventually drove the university to drop its patents.
Anti-GMO activists are hoping for further successes in stopping genetic
food engineering. In the current legislative session, there are about a dozen
proposed bills pushing GMO regulation, labeling and a ban on all imported
GMO produce. These fights over mandating GMO labeling and regulation in
Hawaii may seem like a remote issue, but what happens on these isolated islands
is pivotal for land sovereignty movements across the globe.
“These five major chemical companies chose us to be their center,” said
Ritte. “So whatever we do is going to impact everybody in the world.”
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