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<\/a>A Molokai resident expresses joy as the march passes by her home, which is located across the street from Monsanto\u2019s fields. (WNV\/Imani Altemus-Williams)<\/p><\/div>\n
A Molokai resident expresses joy as the march passes by her home, which is located across the street from Monsanto\u2019s fields. (WNV\/Imani Altemus-Williams)<\/p>\n
This spirited march <\/b>was the last of a series of protests on the five Hawaiian islands that Monsanto and other biotech companies have turned into the world\u2019s ground zero for chemical testing and food engineering. <\/b>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\u2019s climate and abundant natural resources have lured five of the world\u2019s largest biotech chemical corporations: Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer and BASF.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the resources that our kapuna [elders] gave to us, we need to take care of now for the next generation,\u201d said Walter Ritte, a Hawaii activist, speaking in part in the Hawaiian indigenous language.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is our kuleana [responsibility]. That is everybody\u2019s kuleana.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Hawaiian indigenous culture, the very idea of GMOs is effectively sacrilegious.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Hawaii\u2019s indigenous peoples, the concepts underlying genetic manipulation of life forms are offensive and contrary to the cultural values of aloha \u2018\u02bb\u0101ina [love for the land],\u201d wrote Mililani B. Strask, a native Hawaiian attorney.<\/p>\n
Deadly practices <\/b><\/p>\n
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 \u201cAgent Orange\u201d 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\u2019s seeds forced them into unpayable debt.<\/p>\n
The impacts of chemical testing and GMOs are immediate \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Monsanto\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Food sovereignty as resistance<\/b><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
During the march, people chanted and held signs declaring, \u201cAloha \u2018\u0101ina<\/i>: De-occupy Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phrase aloha \u2018\u0101ina<\/i> is regularly seen and heard at anti-GMO protests. Today the words are defined as \u201clove of the land,\u201d but the phrase has also signified \u201clove for the country.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019a system, a communal model of distributing land and work, which allowed the islands to be entirely self-sufficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate land ownership was unknown, and public, common use of the ahupua\u2019a resources demanded that boundaries be drawn to include sufficient land for residence and cultivation, freshwater sources, shoreline and open ocean access,\u201d explained Carol Silva, an historian and Hawaiian language professor.<\/p>\n
Inspired by the Ahupua\u2019a model, the food sovereignty movement is building an organic local system that fosters the connections between communities and their food \u2014 a way of resisting GMOs while simultaneously creating alternatives.<\/p>\n
Colonial history <\/b><\/p>\n
The decline of the Ahupua\u2019a system didn\u2019t 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 \u201caloha \u2018\u0101ina\u201d <\/i>at anti-GMO marches, they are alluding to the fact that this fight isn\u2019t only over competing visions of land use and food creation. It\u2019s also a battle for the islands\u2019 political sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Historically, foreign corporate interests have repeatedly taken control of Hawaii \u2014 and have exploited and mistreated the land and its people in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a systemic problem and the GMO issue just happens to be at the forefront of public debate at the moment,\u201d said Keoni Lee of \u02bb\u014ciwi TV. \u201c\u02bb\u0100ina<\/i> [land] equals that which provides. Provides for who?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s armed coup d\u2019etat of the Hawaiian Kingdom government.<\/p>\n
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 \u201csubstantial wrong\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cTerritory of Hawaii,\u201d 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\u2019 environmental practices, meanwhile, caused air and water pollution and altered the biodiversity of the land.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 particularly because Monsanto has become the largest employer on Molokai.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no difference between the \u201cBig Five\u201d that actually ruled Hawaii in the past,\u201d said Walter Ritte. \u201cNow it\u2019s another \u201cBig Five,\u201d and they\u2019re all chemical companies. So it\u2019s almost like this is the same thing. It\u2019s like d\u00e9j\u00e0vu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rising up<\/b><\/p>\n
At the opening of this year\u2019s legislative session on January 16, hundreds of farmers, students and residents marched to the state capitol for a rally titled \u201cIdle No More: We the People.\u201d There, agricultural specialist and food sovereignty activist Vandana Shiva, who traveled from India to Hawaii for the event, addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see Hawaii not as a place where I come and people say, \u2018Monsanto is the biggest employer,\u2019 but people say, \u2018this land, its biodiversity, our cultural heritage is our biggest employer,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 an economic specter that the sugarcane companies also wielded to their advantage. Anti-GMO organizers are aware of how entrenched this power is.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe things that we\u2019re standing up against are really at the core of capitalism,\u201d proclaimed Hawaiian rights activist Andre Perez at the rally.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHawaii has the cheapest form of democracy,\u201d said Daniel Anthony, a young local activist and founder of a traditional poi business. \u201cHere we can educate a million people, and Monsanto is out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others are using art to educate the public, such as Hawaiian rapper Hood Prince, who rails against Monsanto in his song \u201cSay No to GMO.\u201d This movement is also educating the community through teach-ins and the free distribution of the newly released book\u00a0Facing Hawaii\u2019s Future: Essential Information about GMOs.<\/i><\/p>\n
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\u2019 indigenous culture, in which it is honored as the first Hawaiian ancestor in the creation story.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like we were being violated by the scientific community,\u201d wrote Ritte in Facing Hawaii\u2019s Future.<\/i> \u201cFor the Hawaiian community, taro is not just a plant. It\u2019s a family member. It\u2019s our common ancestor \u2018Haloa <\/i>\u2026. They weren\u2019t satisfied with just taking our land; now they wanted to take our mana, our spirit too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The public outcry eventually drove the university to drop its patents.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese five major chemical companies chose us to be their center,\u201d said Ritte. \u201cSo whatever we do is going to impact everybody in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
___________________________<\/p>\n
Imani Altemus-Williams is a recent graduate of the New School. She has been active in Occupy Wall Street and works with undocumented and indigenous activism, anti-mass-incarceration organizing and popular radical education projects in New York City.<\/i><\/p>\n
Go to Original \u2013 wagingnonviolence.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"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 \u201cAgent Orange\u201d 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\u2019s seeds forced them into unpayable debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organic-gmo-genetic-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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