04-29-2014, 08:47 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Derrick Barnicoat
I also don't see how money coming from the mainland or mainlanders coming to Hawaii to protest is a point. Plus I am not really convinced that this is actually happening but if it is it would make sense
At this point there's no question at all that millions in mainland dollars have been poured into the anti-GMO fight in Hawai'i. It's been reported on by many reliable sources, including journalistic investigations by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat, even the New York Times. Theses articles have revealed, for example, that the Washington based Center for Food Safety, which lists mandatory GMO labeling as a #1 priority on its website, now has an office in Honolulu, with a permanent staff of professional organizers. That doesn't come cheap.
Why it matters to know this is that people's emotions and support get pulled in different directions depending on what they perceive as the motives of the key players in a public debate. One of the ongoing tropes of the anti-GMO message is that it's a David vs Goliath situation, with a little homegrown "grassroots" organization facing off against a rich corporate giant.
Careful analysis of the publicly available facts, however, reveals that the situation is more accurately described as pitting Goliath vs his smaller, but quite powerful cousin "Organic," while the real Davids on the field, the actual small farmers most affected, are being shouldered to the sidelines in the battle of the titans.
If the GMO seed business were to be banned in Hawai'i about 2,000 workers would lose their jobs. How many of them did you see interviewed on the local news? When the Hawai'i County anti-GMO bill was being considered, local papaya farmers literally got squeezed out of the hearings by the organized mob, and they might have gone completely unheard if a special session had not been hastily arranged just for them.
It may or may not be a deal breaker for you to find out that the recent anti-GMO push in Hawai'i was not an authentic grass-roots movement, but instead was a professionally organized "astroturf" movement. Personally I think it is important in a democracy for people to have as clear a picture of what is going on as possible.
There's a lot of money at stake, with the Organic business interests looking to leverage their anti-GMO campaign to push more consumers away from conventional food products and toward the more expensive foods from Organic producers.
That push is mostly based in emotion, rather than in science or facts, so the public is easily manipulated. It's that manipulation that I'm trying to shine some light on. Most revealing , they're not telling you that food prices will go up in Hawai'i if GMO labeling goes into effect, or if GMOs are banned, but it's virtually certain they would.
Respecting Rob's request I won't document this with a bunch of quotes, but if you wish to check it out for yourself simply do an internet search for "anti GMO funding Hawaii".