KAPA‘A — About two dozen people dressed as lab rats held signs and marched to the sound of a drum during a GMO Free Kaua‘i afternoon rally Tuesday.
Their signs read “Label it!,” “Family farms first,” and “Kaua‘i is a world-leading place of open-air GMO experiments.” Pieces of fabric stating “Lab Rats 4 Real Food” were pinned to their clothing.
“We are showing we are a part of the experiment,” said Tara White about her lab rat costume. “We are eating GMOs every day and we don’t know what it’s going to do to us.”
The march was in part to show solidarity with Hawai‘i GMO Justice Coalition, which held a similar rally to protest genetically modified food at the state capital in Honolulu Tuesday.
“Other islands are having similar marches,” said Jeri Di Pietro, one of the founders of GMO Free Kaua‘i and organizer of the event.
The advocates gathered at Papaya’s Natural Foods in Kapa‘a and marched to Kapa‘a Public Library, where international peace activists Bruce Gagnon, Dave Webb and Lynda Williams spoke.
The rally called for the passage of two laws. One is the labeling of GMO foods, and the other is to disclose the locations of field trial sites.
“Asking to label them is a basic right,” White said.
GMO, or genetically modified organism, is an organism whose genetics have been altered on a molecular level.
“It’s crossing barriers that aren’t in nature,” Di Pietro said. “There’s no benefit to the consumer, and it’s harming the environment.”
On Kaua‘i, members of GMO Free Kaua‘i are concerned about the effects of pesticide spraying by Syngenta Seeds at test fields in Waimea.
“We want to bring awareness of chemical spraying, especially on the Westside where people are getting sick,” Di Pietro said.
Complaints were filed against the seed company after several teachers said they and their students became sick from airborne herbicides.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on the Westside,” Daniel McCarty said. “I’m aware of the lack of air quality.”
White echoed those concerns. “On a windy day like today, where (are the chemicals) going? It’s going in people’s homes, up our noses and into our bodies,” White said.
Visitors Jasmine Michaels and Donel Arrington joined the rally, even though they don’t live on Kaua‘i.
“Food is the foundation of our bodies,” said Arrington, who said she was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. “The food supply is corrupted. It’s not what it’s supposed to be.”
In an effort to raise awareness, the organization plans to screen two documentaries, “Living Downstream and “Vanishing of the Bees” in the near future, group members said.
GMO Free Kaua‘i was established in 2002 as an all-volunteer group dedicated to clean food and safe farming, Di Pietro said.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page.
• Andrea Frainier, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or afrainier@thegardenisland.com
