Genetically modified organism (GMO) plants like Hawaii’s "Rainbow papaya" that are designed to resist a specific threat — in this case the Ringspot virus — are unusual in the world of GMOs today.
Currently, 80 to 90 percent of GMO crops contain genes to resist pests, plus an additional gene to allow the crops to tolerate the spraying of herbicide, to remove weeds, without damaging the crops.
While all GMOs can accidentally pollinate neighboring non-GMO crops through wind drift, the non-herbicide tolerant GMOs, such as Rainbow papaya, do not appear to be a threat to humans or to the environment.
On the other hand, there is compelling evidence that herbicide tolerant GMOs may be unsafe for contact with animals and are damaging to the environment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are ready to approve new herbicide-tolerant GMO corn and soybeans, developed by Monsanto and Dow.
A recent press release from Dow AgroSciences stated, "An astonishing 86 percent of corn, soybean and cotton growers in the South have herbicide resistant or hard-to-control weeds on their farms."
This admission by Dow demonstrates that its biggest money-making GMO product has failed, and it wants the USDA and EPA to approve its replacement as soon as possible.
How did this happen?
Monsanto, the inventor of Roundup, told the USDA in 1993 that, "Glyphosate (Roundup) is considered to be a herbicide with low risk for weed resistance."
Some weed scientists were puzzled by Monsanto’s claim because its Roundup-resistant gene was discovered in live bacteria at Monsanto’s Roundup plant in Louisiana. The bacteria had survived in high concentrations of Roundup through mutations and evolution.
This same natural process has been repeating itself in America’s farm lands, resulting in widespread weed resistance, causing herbicide use on U.S. farms to skyrocket.
There are now 22 weed species resistant to Glyphosate. Thousands of acres of GMO crops in the South have been plowed under because of the crop choking, Glyphosate- resistant Palmer Amaranth weed.
Consequently, Dow and Monsanto have developed two new herbicide-tolerant GMOs that use two old and more toxic herbicides called Dicamba and 2-4,D.
According to weed ecologists, 2-4,D and Dicamba are less environmentally friendly than Glyphosate and are 75 to 400 times more likely to injure non-target plants because of off-target drift. Australia banned all 2-4,D use in 2013 for these same reasons.
Monsanto and Dow also believe that weed resistance will not be a problem with their herbicide-tolerant GMOs; but Monsanto made the same claim about Roundup in 1993, which turned out to be totally false. Weed experts believe that these new GMOs will unleash a new plague of super weeds, resistant to both 2-4,D and Glyphosate. And then what do farmers use? A new, safer herbicide has not been developed in a decade.
It was reported that Dow is field-testing 2-4,D tolerant GMO corn in Hawaii. If true, the state should closely control any open-air spraying due to the possibility of drift damage to neighboring properties and damage to the health our children.
Sadly, this problem must be dealt with here in Hawaii. Our federal food safety system under the USDA, EPA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been compromised by corporate greed and the legalized bribery of elected officials through lax campaign finance laws.
The EPA and FDA are a revolving door for Big Agra employees. The head of food safety for FDA is a former Monsanto vice president.
Given the power of big corporations over our political system, the only good answer to this problem is GMO labeling.
