It’s our right, not Monsanto’s, to decide how to handle GMOs

Now that the state House has passed House Bill 174, relating to genetically modified organism (GMO) foods, it’s time to pause and reflect on what this bill is really about.

First, this measure is not anti-GMO; it is pro-labeling. That may sound like the wordsmithing of a politician, but the difference is actually important. Opponents of this bill would have you believe that it is about attacking the GMO industry — but in reality, it is only asking for GMO producers to label the products for what they are. And if labeling your product for what it is amounts to an attack, then the problem is with your business model, not with the labels.

Secondly, Sen. Clarence Nishihara, agriculture committee chairman, is right in saying that there are problems with this bill as written. The version that passed the House will not go into effect until 2112, and the fact that it requires only out-of-state produce to be labeled does raise questions about its constitutionality.

But the answer to these defects is to fix them, not to give up on the bill. The people of Hawaii have spoken, by a vote of 50-1 in the state House, that they want this to happen. Simply tabling this bill and refusing to try to fix it would be a tremendous failure on the part of the Senate. As Rep. Sylvia Luke pointed out, there are problems with the bill, but that is absolutely not a reason to halt the conversation about it.

Lastly, it has been suggested that GMO labeling is something that should be done by the Federal Drug Administration on a national level. That is absolutely correct; labeling should be done on a national level. However, it is not — the FDA is not doing it, and the people of Hawaii want it. We cannot decide this for the rest of the nation, but we can decide it for ourselves. We are not, as some have suggested, too stupid or simple-minded to know what is good for us.

Fears about GMOs and the massive use of pesticides that come with them may ultimately be unfounded. But that is the joy of being a sovereign state: we get to decide whether or not we’re being crazy.

We get to decide whether or not our fears are unfounded and what we need to do to protect ourselves; not D.C., and certainly not Monsanto, Syngenta or their paid lobbyists.

If you believe that the people of Hawaii have a right to decide for themselves whether to label their foods, and have a right to know what they’re eating, then call your state senators and let them know that this bill needs to be heard, it needs to be fixed, and it needs to passed.

Let them know that the people of Hawaii are watching and that they have a long memory.