Two contrary gatherings on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) drew people to Kona from around Hawai'i. 

On February 8 the College of Tropical Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Hawai'i (UH), attracted over 100 participants to an educational forum.  The following weekend nearly fifty anti-GMO activists -- half of whom attended the earlier conference -- came together from four Hawaiian islands to organize a state-wide coalition against GMOs.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss attended both these events and kindly reports here for us. Dr. Bliss (sb3@pon.net) teaches in the Ecological Agriculture program of the New College of California, owns the organic Kokopelli Farm, and writes for the Hawai'i Island Journal.

The "GMO Forum," organized by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i (UH) was attended by over 100 advocates and opponents of Genetically Modified Organisms on February 8 in a Kona hotel. The  conference was dominated by UH scientists and biotechnology industry and government representatives from the mainland. 

Sixteen scientists, farmers, environmentalists and government and biotechnology industry representatives spoke for 15 minutes each. Experts flown in from Washington, D.C., and San Francisco contended that GMOs pose no threat to humans or nature.
Farmers and environmentalists on the program and in the audience challenged the genetic engineering (GE) of foods. 

The well-organized conference (by UH researcher Ania Wieczorek) started with clear scientific presentations on how genetics and DNA works and the differences in classical plant breeding and gene splicing. Top representatives from the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, and the food and beverage industry flew in from Washington, D.C., and San Francisco to assure people that genetically engineered foods are safe and pose no threat to human health or the environment.

UH invited twice as many pro-GMO speakers as critics. Judging by the audience's applause and written questions, listeners were more sympathetic to the GMO opponents. Some members of the audience were critical afterwards that their questions were highly edited and that they would have preferred the option to pose them from the floor.

The first farmer to speak, Tane Datta of Kona, was also the first to receive an enthusiastic response from the audience. He noted that "many people are consuming a large amount of GMO products without their knowledge." Datta refuted government and industry claims that there is no difference between traditional hybrids and GMOs.  "GMOs are patented specifically because they are different."  Datta advocated the labeling of GMO products, such as occurs in Europe.

Environmentalist Britt Bailey from the Center for Ethics and Toxics in Northern California received the only standing ovation of the day when she spoke to social and philosophical issues, "Kona coffee is a unique product," Bailey asserted.  "Kona is one of our last mainstays of small family farming. You have a right to grow coffee as you want to. It is an issue of autonomy and sovereignty." Kona coffee growers have been leading the campaign against GMOs. Bailey co-edited the new book "Engineering the Farm: The Social and Ethical Aspects of Agricultural Biotechnology" (Island Press).

UH came under criticism from various speakers and from written questions from the audience, which was skillfully controlled by UH facilitator Donna Ching. Various questions addressed the problem of spending millions of dollars on biotechnology, rather than on sustainable farming.

Eden Peart, speaking for the Sierra Club, noted that Hawai'i has more open field tests than any other state, adding, "GMOs have the potential to end nature as we know it." She provided a list of biotech blunders and concluded, "We are talking about a major disruption to the web of life, to our food, and to our agricultural heritage."

The grassroots Hawai'i Genetic Engineering Action Group (HIGEAN) was represented by David Letourneau, who spoke of GMOs as "biological terrorism that needs to be contained". He asserted, "The biotechnology industry wants to flood the market, feeling that we will just surrender. But we will never surrender."

Oahu organic farmer Kimberly Clark's paper was read by a colleague. She described the giant corporation Monsanto, a GMO leader, as a "serpent" in "the Garden of Eden" and spoke of biotech as a form of "colonialism," asking, "Do we really want these people mixing plants and animals?" Clark contended that "we need to listen to nature" rather than to "GMO propaganda," concluding, "It's time to get back to the garden."

The well-attended conference reveals the growing national and even international importance of Hawai‚i and UH with regards to GMOs. Or as the USDA's biotech coordinator Michael Schechtman noted, "Hawai'i is an important agricultural center."

The grassroots Hawai'i Island Genetic Engineering Action Group (HIGEAN) organized the three-day educational workshop, which was attended by more than fifty people from Hawaii, Kauai (GMO FREE KAUAI), Oahu, and Maui. HIGEAN's key leaders are organic Kona coffee farmers.  Ample written and oral documentation about the dangers of GMOs were presented at the more informal gathering.

Hawai'i is the GMO capital of America, since the most open field tests occur here.  The vast majority of GE is done in the U.S.  The University of Hawai'i is a GE leader and seems to be positioning itself to continue that leadership. Kaua'i is the island where the most open field tests occur. It's GMO FREE KAUAI group is also the biggest and most active in Hawai'i.

The retreat's three presenters were Skip Spitzer of Pesticide Action Network in San Francisco, Luke Anderson (British author of "Genetic Engineering, Food, and Our Environment"), and genetic engineer Martha Crouch, Ph.D., formerly of the University of Indiana.

Anderson told stories about successful movements in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere against GMOs. 

Spitzer was concerned about the control of multinational corporations like Monsanto and Dow and noted that "this is about power and domination." 

Scientist Crouch put GMOs in a wider context, "Biotechnology solidifies the power of industrial agriculture and works against small family farming."

The weekend ended with a native Hawaiian chant by Momi Subiono, who  invited participants on a field trip to the nearby Amy Greenwell ethnobotanical garden that includes endangered Hawaiian plants threatened by GMOs.

The three-day workshop is planned to be an annual event, with the next one probably hosted by GMO FREE KAUAI.