Is Hawaii's Anti-GMO Movement Really Just Anti-Science?

“Is Hawaii’s Anti-GMO Movement Really Just
Anti-Science?” produced by Sharif Matar. 

Original release date was January 29, 2014 and
original writeup is below.

Hawaii is at the center of the fight over genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) – and the food people are eating all over
the United States.

Because of Hawaii’s favorable climate, plant breeders
and food companies do huge amounts of research and seed development
there, including modifying and transforming crops via all sorts of
biotechnology. In 2013, two islands in the Aloha State passed
legislation restricting GMO use and local and international
activists are pushing for broader bans across the rest of the
state. Anti-GMO activists say that the crops are potentially
harmful and can contaminate the rest of Hawaii’s
agriculture.

Legislators are currently considering a bill that would
mandate labeling on all foods with genetically engineered material,
a move that critics claim would increase the cost of food in Hawaii
even more (according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hawaii
already pays about 40 percent more for food than other states).
Other states are also proposing GMO-labeling schemes because of the
fears associated with such products. Connecticut and Maine, for
instance, have already passed labeling laws, but they won’t go into
effect until after other states follow suit.

The battle over GMOs will likely turn on questions of
safety and property rights: Are GMO foods safe for human
consumption? And who gets to decide how cropland is used – voters
or landowners?

Reason TV traveled to Hawaii and reports on both
issues.

For more on the situation in Hawaii – and the
scientific consensus that GMO foods are absolutely safe to eat –
read Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey’s story, “The
Fable of Hawaiian Frankencorn.” For Reason’s coverage of
GMOs, go
here.

About 9 minutes.