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Opinion by Noonoi Selnick

The question is not whether organic produce is safe to eat. The question is why did government waffle in 2002 and allow 245 more chemicals to be used in organic crops, mostly grown as a specialty line by agribusiness corporations.

The question is — as Barbara Kingsolver, author of “Seeing Red,” put it, why are there synthetic ingredients allow in our foods? In 2005, a federal court ruled that organic food could not be made with synthetic ingredients. But agribusiness lobbyists complained, and Congress again waffled and rewrote the law. It’s now legal to use Bisphenol A (BPA), which has been linked to developmental problems in kids, in cans of organic food!

Let’s start by taking action here on Molokai by determining what organizations are high pesticide users. How is our aina being poisoned, leaving residues in soil which often stays there longer that the average life span? What practices cause poisonous dust clouds and how can we eliminate them?

Join the SHAKA movement — Sustainable Hawaiian Agriculture for the Keiki and Aina. Petitions are available at the Outpost and Kalele Bookstore. Sign up, stand up and learn more at shakamovement.org.