Did you know that Hawai‘i is the GMO seed testing capital of the world? Since I have arrived in Hawaii there have been multiple protests against the use of GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds and crops due to their reputation for causing negative effects on human health, the environment, and economies.
What are GMOs? According to Hawaii SEED they are plant seeds created by scientists in a laboratory where they insert genes into an organism to create new traits. In the United States, GMOs are not labeled. They are in over 75% of processed supermarket foods in ingredients like soy lecithin, canola, corn syrup, and cotton seed oil.
Due to the invasive nature of GMOs, otherwise healthy and sustainable agriculture grown in Hawaii are at risk of being destroyed or contaminated, putting local farmers out of business, risking the health of those who consume the crops and compromising the value of traditional, sustainable Hawaiian land use.
To learn more about GMOs, their local effects and the efforts to stand against them in Hawaii, please visit hawaiiseed.org!
Related articles
- A Crash Course on GMOs (theepochtimes.com)
- Native Hawaiians Standing up Against Use of Land for GMO Experiments (intellihub.com)
Sustainability Studies 