The Never-Ending GMO-Pesticide Fight

[jivinjimbo]

HanapepePuppy,

Thanks for posting that interesting article about how healthy the honey bees are in Kauai. I've got a couple of interesting observations on this. I found it hard to believe that this current article about the health of honey bees in Kauai made no mention of this fact as well:

From this link, Oct 3rd, 2016: Bees Added To U.S. Endangered Species List For 1st Time : The Two-Way : NPR

"Finally — some good news for the bees of Hawaii. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given endangered status to seven species of yellow-faced bees native to the islands. These are "the first bees in the country to be protected under the Endangered Species Act."

"The seven endangered species are impacted by a wide variety of threats, including habitat destruction because of urbanization or nonnative animals, the introduction of nonnative plant species, wildfires, nonnative predators and natural events such as hurricanes, tsunamis and drought."

From this link, Oct 5th,2016: First Bee Species Added to Endangered Species List | Ecology Global Network

"The endangered genus, Hylaeus, commonly called yellow-faced, are the only genus native to Hawaii. Their failure comes amid a national crisis of declining bee populations, including colony collapse disorder, which is attributed to an array of causes, including habitat loss, infection, and the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides."

From this link, Sept 22, 2016: https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...rm-bees-report

"Agrochemical giants Syngenta and Bayer discovered in their own tests that their pesticides caused severe harm to bees, according to unpublished documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the environmental group Greenpeace." (BTW, It looks like Bayer and Monsanto are currently in the process of merging.)

But back to your March 16,2017 TGI link about the healthy honey bees of Kauai. I noticed that it pointed this out:

"The pollen samples were not tested for glyphosate, a pesticide found in Round-Up, Enright said."

Then later on in the article a separate study was pointed out that said this:

"Berg said he found glyphosate in about 37 percent of the 59 hives he tested."

From this January 26th, 2017 link about glyphosate: Scientist

"Within just a few weeks, two studies were published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports that cast new doubts on the safety of genetically modified foods and glyphosate herbicide. The first found that a genetically modified corn, NK 603, was not substantially equivalent to a non-GMO counterpart, which is contrary to claims of GMO proponents. The second study found that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, can cause a serious liver disease at doses thousands of times lower than that allowed by law."

And while the finding of low levels of fipronil were found in every sample, and was downplayed in the TGI article, here's something I found on it:

From this fact-sheet link: Fipronil General Fact Sheet

"Scientists found that fipronil is highly toxic to sea and freshwater fish, and highly toxic to sea and freshwater invertebrates. Two fipronil metabolites were also tested in freshwater fish and invertebrates and were more toxic than fipronil.

In other studies, fipronil was found to be highly toxic to some birds, but practically non-toxic to ducks. Fipronil was also found to be highly toxic to honey bees, but not toxic to earthworms."

So, I guess these surviving species of Kauai honey bees mentioned in the article are a heartier, more robust breed than their seven endangered-status Hawaiian bee cousins I mentioned, which is great. However, there are still obvious questions and concerns regarding both the GMO-related glyphosate found, as well as the fipronil problem.

HanapepePuppy, as far as your statement, "This makes me wonder if it is the average home owner applying pesticides around the home and tenting for termites that might be having even more of an effect on the environment than government regulated big AG..", you make a valid point worth investigating.

However, based on what I've seen and posted in regards to specific areas on the island noted by doctors as having spikes in birth defects, cancers and other illnesses, the only common denominator they've come up with in these areas is being downwind from nearby GMO crop fields.

I would think that the use of household pesticides and termite fumigation, if dangerous, would be causing a lot more widespread illnesses throughout the entire, more densely populated areas of the island.

In a perfect world, though, I would love to see Kauai become a "role model" place for the rest of the world to learn from. This would mean eliminating the use of dangerous chemicals and pesticides island-wide, and showing the rest of the world that it is actually possible to overcome pest and weed problems organically. There are ways to do this, but it would take a massive, island-wide paradigm shift in thinking to get it done.

The "traditional" way is just causing more and more problems as time goes on. Thanks again for your post, HanapepePuppy.

I also enjoyed your post as well, mr.magoo. I look forward to reading any of those articles you mentioned scanning.

JivinJimbo

[mr.magoo]

Thanks, Jivinjimbo..
they are in my Desk at Magoo Manor...the painters are here painting the interior..when they are finished, I will endeavor to post the articles here.

[jivinjimbo]

For anyone interested, I just thought I'd share this 3-minute "trailer" link to an interesting documentary that's recently come available called "Seed, The Untold Story". (It's also available to view online for five dollars, if anyone wants to see the whole thing.) It definitely includes specific references to the Kauai situation in it as well.

Here's what it says about it:

"Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds, worshiped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. SEED: The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds."

Trailer


Thanks,

JivinJimbo