2013 was a year full of passionate debates about GMO crops in Hawaii at the county level. But now that the 2014 legislative session has begun, Hawaii lawmakers are deciding whether the state should have a role in regulating GMO use or even whether to overturn the counties’ new laws.
Monday’s hearing was the first time this session that lawmakers took up the GMO issue. The committee approved the bill, Senate Bill 2736, which would require labeling on all food that has genetically engineered material effective on Jan. 1 next year.
Yet the proposal is unlikely to get much farther.
But SB 2736 is just one of several GMO-related bills that the Legislature is considering this year.
Others would require more disclosure from biotech companies or ban the growing GMO crops in Hawaii altogether. Yet another would override the regulations imposed by counties, and still another would take the issue straight to the voters through a constitutional amendment.
Read the full, original article: Food Fight: Hawaii Lawmakers Grapple With GMO Labeling
Additional Resources:
- “Hawaii legislator says pro-GMO forces unfairly accuse him of bias,” Honolulu Civil Beat
- “Amy Harmon GMO redux: Targeting female journalists for deviating from ideological expectations,” New York Times
- “Liberals v. Science: As Hawaiians debate GMOs, local legislator committed to science is ostracized,” New York Times