2014-08-04 | permalink

Farmers, Environmental Groups Defend Moratorium of GMO Crops on Hawaii’s Big Island

Report from the Center for Food Safety - HONOLULU – A coalition of local farmers and environmental groups today filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit to defend a Hawai‘i County ordinance that imposes a moratorium on the expansion of genetically engineered (GE) crops on the Big Island. Sustainable agriculture nonprofit, Center for Food Safety (CFS), and three Hawai‘i Island farmers asked the court permission to join as defendants in a biotech industry lawsuit challenging the County of Hawai‘i’s Ordinance 13-121. The ordinance regulates GE organisms to prevent their environmental and economic harms, such as contamination of organic and conventional crops and wild plants and associated pesticide use. The coalition is jointly represented by counsel from CFS and Earthjustice. “Hawaii County, like every county, has the right to protect its farmers and native environments from genetically engineered crops,” said George Kimbrell, CFS senior attorney. “Having GE-free zones is

• Farmers, Environmental Groups Defend Moratorium of GMO Crops on Hawaii’s Big Island | Hawaii Reporter
• Center for Food Safety Hawaii | Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods in Hawaii
• Earthjustice, Center for Food Safety Seek to Defend Big Island GMO Ban - Civil Beat
• Which States Are Considering Labels for GMO Foods? - The Numbers - WSJ
• Center for Food Safety | Fish And Wildlife Service Agrees to Phase-Out Genetically Engineered Crops and Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides on National Refuges