by Andrew Walden

With this afternoon's 6-3 vote, Hawaii County Council members now leave it to Mayor Billy Kenoi to decide whether or not to ban GMOs from the island. 

Voting YES on Bill 113, which would not ban the cultivation of GMO papayas:

• Poindexter
• Kern
• Ford
• Kanuha
• Eoff
• Wille

Voting NO:

• Yoshimoto
• Onishi
• Ilagan

To override a veto, the council needs six votes, so one of the panderers will have to flip or Kenoi's veto will be useless.

Ironically, GMO marijuana, the island's largest cash crop and the facilitator of the mass hysteria, is subject to a full ban under Bill 113.

None of the major seed companies have operations on the Big Island.

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Willie: My Anti-GMO Delusions Trump Your Agricultural Reality

HTH: Despite opposition from most of Hawaii’s farming industry, the Hawaii County Council passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits biotech companies from operating on the Big Island and bans growing any new genetically altered crops.

"We are at a juncture — do we move forward in the direction of the agro-chemical monoculture model of agriculture, (translation: I intend to shut down all the real farms) or do we move toward eco-friendly, diversified farming?"  (And you will either import all your food or be reduced to a subsistence economy) Councilwoman Margaret Wille, who introduced the bill, told Civil Beat after the vote.

For Wille, the 6-3 vote in favor of Bill 113, is a decisive victory for the latter.

"There is no sacred cow when it comes to how do we protect the future health of the island and the kids (from the non-existent threat of GMOs)," she said....

...many in the farming industry say opponents are making pseudo-scientific attacks on tools that can help farmers increase yields, reduce pesticide use or even save crops from viruses and fungi.

"What bothers me is the anti-science position of so many people," said Richard Ha, owner of Hamakua Springs Country Farms, who testified numerous times against the bill. "And I think there is a real lack of education...."

Hoosier: My mob of Eco-Terrorists is being Bullied

read ... Ignorance and Prejudice on Display