Every day people are bombarded with information, and as the recent election proved, it’s often difficult to parse fact from fiction. This is especially true when you throw social media into the mix. It’s easy for people to propagate misinformation, simply by sharing what appears to be a credible source without doing any of their own fact checking.

This brings me to the topic of food safety. Over and over again, misinformation is shared about the safety of GMO (genetically modified organism) crops due to pesticide use. In 20-plus years on the market, GMOs have not caused or contributed to a single illness or death, and every major science and food safety authority in the U.S. and abroad have declared GMO crops to be as safe as non-biotech crops of the same species, both for food and for the environment. Locally, GMO technology is credited with saving our local papaya industry on the Big Island.

There’s more. In mid-November, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its 2015 Pesticide Data Program summary showing that there is very little pesticide residue in food. In fact, the USDA tested nine of the supposed 12 “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables and found that more than 99 percent of the samples tested had pesticide residues far below the levels considered to be a health risk, established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is the federal agency that assesses and ensures the environmental and food safety of GMOs and pesticides, with special emphasis on the protection of infants and children, as well as adults.

The USDA report includes reliable data from over 10,000 samples of domestic and imported foods, including apples, cherries, cucumbers, strawberries, nectarines, tomatoes and corn. The test results confirmed that consumers can feel confident that the products they buy for their families are safe.

Pesticides get a bad rap because of the misperceptions about them. Most people don’t realize that most of the pesticides in the American diet are chemicals that plants themselves produce to defend themselves against being eaten. Pesticides also do a lot of good in keeping our environments healthy and productive.

Hawaii’s climate provides a great environment for bugs and diseases, such as fire ants, termites, and mosquitoes carrying dengue. With tens of thousands of species of insects, weeds, and diseases that can damage our health, homes, crops, native species and watersheds, pesticides are needed to combat the destruction they cause.

Pesticides also protect farmers’ crops to ensure availability of the best quality of food and good yields. But it’s important to understand that this is just one tool that is used. Farmers practice Integrated Pest Management (IPM) that includes using beneficial insects to reduce pests and weeds, rotating crops, using cover crops, monitoring fields for pests and using pesticides only when necessary to keep pest populations to a minimum.

This is the information people should be sharing in support of our local farmers. Hawaii’s farms keep hundreds of thousands of acres beautiful and green while providing thousands of jobs and contributing millions of dollars each year in tax revenues. To continue this, farmers need to make a living. That’s hard to do when you are the target of misinformation.

Our local agriculture industry feeds us and helps to grow and diversify our economy. Our farmers need everyone’s support and they need for people to better understand what it takes to farm.

Bennette Misalucha is executive director of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association.