GMO food, health care remain hot-button issues

By Ira Zunin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 05, 2013

~~<p>Perusing through myriad responses to the 52 columns written last year, one gains a sense of which issues matter most to readers and which ones stir up the greatest controversy. Together they point to those topics sure to capture attention in the coming year.</p>
<p>We care about what we eat. Food must be tasty, convenient, reasonably priced and healthy. The devil is in the details and how each of us prioritizes these nearly universal values. The purveyors of genetically modified food say that GMO meets all four criteria. They say it is so safe that "GMO" need not be written on the label. Opponents to GMO argue that if it was so attractive, agribusiness would jump to put it on the label. Despite Gov. Neil Abercrombie's comment that organic farming is merely gardening, there is a groundswell of readers who cherish local, organic food and choose to support Hawaii's farmers and their markets. Many see food as an opportunity to build community and the island economy.</p>
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Perusing through myriad responses to the 52 columns written last year, one gains a sense of which issues matter most to readers and which ones stir up the greatest controversy. Together they point to those topics sure to capture attention in the coming year.

We care about what we eat. Food must be tasty, convenient, reasonably priced and healthy. The devil is in the details and how each of us prioritizes these nearly universal values. The purveyors of genetically modified food say that GMO meets all four criteria. They say it is so safe that "GMO" need not be written on the label. Opponents to GMO argue that if it was so attractive, agribusiness would jump to put it on the label. Despite Gov. Neil Abercrombie's comment that organic farming is merely gardening, there is a groundswell of readers who cherish local, organic food and choose to support Hawaii's farmers and their markets. Many see food as an opportunity to build community and the island economy. Login for more...