The Hawaiian Islands are the most remote island chain in the world and possess a unique and fragile ecosystem. Upon arriving, visitors are required to complete a declaration form stating any fruit, vegetable, flower, plant, seed, culture, insect or animal they may have in their possession because, “Many plants and animals from elsewhere in the world can be harmful to our unique environment, agriculture and communities.”

We were surprised, therefore, to learn that the Island of Maui is the most recent flashpoint in the GMO wars.

It is such a contentious issue on the Island that Maui County citizens are introducing their first-ever ballot initiative that would prohibit the growth, testing and cultivation of genetically modified or genetically engineered crops, as well as prohibiting genetic modification engineering work, for a period of one year to allow for an environmental and health study to be performed.

The results must show these practices to be safe and harmless.

A unique system

What’s happening on Maui? Mark Phillipson, Syngenta Hawaii’s lead for corporate external relations recently stated, “Most of the research for the American corn market in GMO is done here.” Hawaii  provides “unique environment , for corporate visitors such as Syngenta, Dow Agrosciences and Monsanto because it is the only American state that affords three crop cycles per year, providing a significant competitive advantage.

When a test crop is planted, a variety of chemical herbicides and pesticides are applied to the plants and their reactions are measured by scientists. Hawaiians are concerned that these chemicals may be poisoning their air, water and land.

Dr. Lorrin Pang, a long-time consultant to the World Health Organization and a leading proponent of the initiative stated: “I’m very concerned also with the results of the mixing of pesticides and herbicides in the environment and in people’s bodies. You may know the effects of each chemical individually but each new combination could have stunning effects. The minute you combine them, all hell can break loose.”

“We’ve only recently learned that, on Kauai for example, they are regularly spraying 70 to 80 different chemicals to kill everything in the soil, the microbes, the viruses, the fungi. That represents 10 to the 23rd possible combinations, a trillion trillion, more than all the drops of water in the ocean.”

Proponents of GMO crops often cite studies that show a lack of harmful health effects from the consumption of genetically altered food ingredients. They go on to point out that upwards of 80 percent of the food found in most grocery stores and consumed by most Americans contains genetically-altered ingredients. So … why worry?

The Maui case illustrates one of the less talked-about issues relating to GMOs, namely the accompanying use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides (often in new and untested combinations) that are part and parcel to the practice of the genetic modification of plants. GMO crops accelerate their use because the same companies who profit from engineering the GMO seeds also profit from manufacturing the chemicals used on the GMO plants.

Like many of the residents of Maui, we are concerned about the effects these chemicals may have on our health as they travel through our air, soil and water. Would you want to live next to a GMO crop research facility?

Many of Maui’s citizens obviously do not. Passions are running strong with anti-GMO sentiment being expressed everywhere from the daily newspaper to graffiti scrawled on the sides of restaurants that use GMO produce.

Predictably, the chemical agri-businesses “people” of Maui are dumping tremendous financial resources into defeating the moratorium initiative.

We hope that the non-corporate, real people of Maui are successful in their efforts to control their own food destiny so that they may continue to “Eat well and be well” for many years to come.

Mark Ozias and Lisa Boulware are owners of The Red Rooster Grocery. Reach them at columnists@sequimgazette.com.