HB704 HD2

SECTION 1. Referred to by native Hawaiians as kalo, taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a crop of great cultural and spiritual significance to Hawaii's indigenous people, the kanaka maoli. More than simply a highly-prized food staple, the kalo plant is also considered to be the divine ancestor of man. As documented in the kumulipo, the sacred Hawaiian genealogical chant charting the creation of the universe, the sky father, Wakea, and the earth mother, Papa, conceived a daughter named Hoohokulani, with whom Wakea later conceived a second, stillborn son named Haloa-naka. Out of his grave grew the first kalo plant. Soon thereafter, Wakea and Hoohokulani had a second son, also called Haloa, who became the first human being. Therefore, in kinship terms, taro is the elder brother of the Hawaiian people, nourishing and watched over them for generations.

This spiritual relationship between kalo and the kanaka maoli is expressed metaphorically in the concept of 'ohana, the Hawaiian word for family. Like the family system, taro sprouts forth from a single root which, when finally harvested, is reborn yet again via root cuttings that are broken off and then replanted for the next season. Thus, in Hawaiian epistemology, life itself will not die so long as the living waters of the soul continue to nourish it. As testament to the strength of this world view, native Hawaiian farmers have used their horticultural skills to successfully maintain roughly seventy varieties of taro, the majority of which are unique to the Hawaiian islands.

The cultivation of kalo, then, intrinsically ties the interdependency of the past, present, and future as the essence of procreation and regeneration, thereby forming the foundation for any sustainable practice. Kalo not only expresses the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the kanaka maoli and their heritage, but also symbolizes the environmental, social, and cultural values important to the state. This relationship is symbolized in the use of the kalo plant upon the crown of King Kalakaua and, today, in the logo of the office of Hawaiian affairs, along with many commercial enterprises across the state.

The purpose of this Act is to acknowledge, preserve, and perpetuate the importance and use of kalo in the heritage of the state by establishing a five-year moratorium on the testing, propagating, cultivating, raising, and growing of genetically modified taro in Hawaii.

SECTION 2. Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§321‑ Genetically modified taro; moratorium. (a) No genetically modified taro shall be tested, propagated, cultivated, raised, or grown in the state.

(b) As used in this section:

"Genetically modified" means alterations to a life form or its living progeny at the nucleic acid level, using the techniques collectively referred to as recombinant DNA technology.

"Recombinant DNA technology" means the transfer of genes, regulatory sequences, or nucleic acid between hosts by the use of vectors or laboratory manipulations and includes the insertion, excision, duplication, inactivation, or relocation of specific genes, regulatory sequences, or sections of nucleic acid. This term does not apply to a material or an organism developed exclusively through traditional methods of breeding, hybridization, or nondirected mutagenesis.

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	704
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII