Kudos to Hawaii

Hawaii has voted to ban the growth of  genetically modified coffee on the Island.  Anyone caught violating the ban faces up to a $1,000.00 fine.

While there may be some benefit to genetically modified foods (and that is a BIG maybe) the basic premise of genetically altering something bother me alot.  Consider what happened when Monsato genetically altered rapeseed (Canola oil) in Canada.  The M. company planted fields with a crop that was genetically altered to NOT be affected by weedkillers.  So the planes were able to fly over, release pesticides and weekillers and the crops were not damaged.

That sounds good, right?

Well, it seems that M. had patented the genetics of the new rapeseed plants.  But somehow God did not get the memo.  WInd carried pollen from the fields and into the fields of nearby farmers.  Soon the weedkillers weren’t killing anyone;s plants because all the plants were genetically modified.  So… M. sued the farmers for stealing a patented seed.  ::rolling eyes::  What’s worse..they won!  There was a counter suit and of course it was a big mess.

So, besides that fact that I hate that type of thing why am I happy that coffee isn’t being genetically modified?

Because once something is modified there is really no way to ensure that it doesn’t affect other plants in the same species.  What if 20 years down the road we find that genetic modification causes cancer.  Pollen drift could create a situation where there were literally no plants left that were not genetically modified.

Someone has to take the stand somewhere…so..Kudos to Hawaii!

And..another reason to stick with organic coffee!!

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