To: Maui County Council

Do you want disgusting bugs to destroy our locally-grown produce? Of course not!

Then why should Maui County start dictating beyond Federal and State laws how local farmers make sure crops are safe and sustainable?

Why is this important?

- Local farmers would not survive if this bill were passed. Safe use of pesticides allow them to grow fresh, healthy, affordable, local produce available to everyone without the threat of insects and pests.
- Local farmers provide sustainability for our island state. Without them, we'll have to import all of our fresh produce at high costs.
- Farmers and Ranchers already disclose their pesticide use information as regulated by State and Federal law. The pesticides that are used have very strict rules and parameters that certified users must abide by and have been vigorously tested for health and safety purposes.
- Approximately 3 trillion meals with GMO ingredients have been consumed without incident.
- Benefits of biotech include a reduction in pesticide spraying which is the equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as removing 10.2 million cars from the road for a year while saving crops such as the papaya.
- Over 600 peer-reviewed studies (1/3 of which are independently funded) show that biotech (GMO) crops are safe and beneficial.

We support Federal and State laws that regulate pesticides and GMOs to provide parity for farmers and ranches statewide.

To our Elected Officials,
As a resident of Hawaii, I urge you to please oppose additional County level regulations relating to the use of pesticides and GMO. By signing this, I support existing State & Federal laws.

Support for agriculture is needed, not additional regulations.

Brought to you by the Maui County Farm Bureau