Protecting Our Right to Grow Taro Naturally-Testimony to County Council

The Native Hawaiian community has withstood invasion, had their land taken away and have lost access to their natural resources.

The Hawaiian people should not have to bear the cost and consequence of any further indignities visited upon their culture. If you respect the Hawaiian culture then give kalo the full protection it deserves.

I would like to say that I am very concerned about possible amendments to our County bill based on the proposed state bill. The State bill does not offer the complete protection we desire and this is why we ask the County Council to stand up for our kalo.

The genetic modification of kalo in a closed laboratory defeats the purpose of our bill to protect Hawaiian Kalo from modification. It is the intent of anyone doing genetic modification to eventually take that kalo out of the laboratory and put it into the public arena.

You represent Maui County and have the right to decide what happens in our county. Please stand up for what is pono and offer kalo full protection here. Let the State decide what they will, but here you have an opportunity to show that you truly stand behind your statements of supporting the desires of the Hawaiian community in Maui County.

The biotech industry has said it has no interest in producing or experimenting on gm taro. Their only concern is the precedent that it will set regarding genetic modification of other crops. So their objections are based on the motivation of corporate profit and control of our food supply. Monsanto doesn’t really care about the cultural significance of kalo to our people, they only care about what the world thinks about genetic modification. They are willing to sacrifice our culture so that no one thinks that genetic modification is questionable. This is unacceptable.
Monsanto representatives have said they respect the Hawaiian culture-prove it-support our right to naturally grown kalo.

During the discussion of shark tours all of you spoke of the cultural significance of the relationship between sharks and the Hawaiian culture. I have heard “commercialization of a religious symbol that is so important to the host culture is inappropriate," The relationship between kalo and the Hawaiian people is even more important. Kalo is considered a member of the family and therefore of even more significance. If you found shark tours culturally offensive, the idea of genetically modified kalo should appall you even more.

I believe we need to be consistent with our respect for Hawaiian culture. When the shark tour ban was proposed, there weren’t limitations put upon it, saying what kind of shark could or couldn’t be fed. No, there is a general ban on shark tours in Maui County. And like the sharks, limiting this bill to only Hawaiian Kalo doesn’t come close to addressing the danger of allowing GM Kalo in Maui County. As stated by Dr. Lorrin Pang, “contamination may occur through cross-pollination, wind, water, decomposition, insects etc.” Contamination of Hawaiian Kalo will occur if ANY GMO taro is brought into Maui County.

This is the same type of preemptive legislation and cannot be watered down in any way.

There is no win-win situation for kalo if the language of the bill is changed to accommodate the biotech industry. There is a win-win situation if Monsanto and the Farm Bureau show respect to our culture by supporting this bill as written. We maintain the right to grow taro that is not genetically modified and Monsanto and the Farm bureau get the satisfaction of showing through action that they respect the Hawaiian culture.

Imua!