Source: Maui Time, Maui News, Best of Maui, Maui Activities

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No GMO Taro
Saturday, 9 a.m to 4 p.m. at the University of Hawaii’s Bachman Hall

April 27, 2006

[PROTEST] We don’t normally plug events on other islands in these pages, but this one’s a little different. Organizers want people from every Hawaiian island to attend and “bring a stone” to build a platform that will hold the rather provocative carving pictured here. The whole thing’s part of a big fight by taro farmers against the University’s efforts to genetically modify the plant, the cultivation of which made up a key part of traditional Native Hawaiian life and culture. Not only are people worried about the long-term health effects of genetically modifying anything, but native activists are especially incensed that UH is patenting taros and asking farmers to sign licensing agreements. For more information about the fight against GMO taro, call Molokai activist and protest organizer Walter Ritte at (808) 558-0111. [ANTHONY PIGNATARO]