A seed of doubt

By Joan Conrow
April 8, 2009

Cover Story
Honolulu Weekly

[excerpt:]
Ask folks to name Hawai'i's most valuable farm crop and they'll likely say sugar or pineapple, maybe hazard a guess at macadamia nuts. Few will answer correctly - seeds - and even fewer will know that at least half that industry is devoted to growing genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs.
. . .

"These biotech companies are receiving huge state and federal subsides and tax incentives to come here," Di Pietro said. "Most of the seed company profits are realized out of state. Biotech companies use a large portion of our ag land and water, yet produce no food that we can eat. We experience little benefit and receive much environmental degradation that will be left for us to mitigate."
. . .

Genetic engineering is a perennially hot topic in the Hawai'i Legislature . . .

. . . the fate of House Bill 1226 is uncertain. Known as the "pre-emption bill," it would prohibit the state and county from banning or otherwise regulating activities related to genetically-modified plant organisms (GMOs).
. . .

The full article is available on the Honolulu Weekly website.