Letters | 6-13-14

Outlaw patents and solve GMO woes

Outlaw patents and solve GMO woes

Reading about the county genetically modified organisms concerns, I hope the county acknowledges in it swording that companies doing business with GMOs can not verify containment of those GMOs in open air, so no patents can be obtained in the future. Period. That only those already growing outside will be tolerated and any future plantings must be in a controlled environment. By outlawing patents on any open-air farming by such companies with vested interest in these activities, it should remove the profit margin.

Labeling of GMO products should be a statewide goal. Even those GMO’s currently in use, with patent in tact, should be listed.

It is our right to be able to decide if we care or do not care what it is we are eating, what our children are fed at school, and what we want to buy.

If we remove the money incentive, we should quiet the lawsuits. There should not be a point where some company knocks on your door and says “you are growing our product, pay us.”

We have never planted papayas, yet they grow, probably from birds. Who knows?

Irene Ray

Captain Cook

Honokaa deserves historical recognition

First of all, Honokaa is a heavenly and pristine area which should stay that way. With a high amount of its buildings built in the 1920s on its main street, it is a perfect match that these architectural wonders have retained their historical uniqueness.

Honokaa people want their original buildings to achieve federal, state and county recognized status as a historical area. This would benefit Honokaa socially and economically. The area deserves historical recognition since these structures have maintained their original archiecture.

Historical recognition for Honokaa’s buildings would be conducive toward the social and economic aspects of the entire Big Island and not only Honokaa. Visitors would flock to the island.

Dean Nagasako

Honokaa