The other day, I was doing some research at the Kahului Public Library in The Maui News archives. The year: 1971; the headline "Cane burning - another three years."
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. has been giving us that line for 40 years and has not changed any of its procedures.
I actually love the look of the cane blowing in the wind and holding down the dust. What I don't love is the lack of caring for our soil and, of course, the burning.
Like an Oct. 6 letter writer said about other countries, especially Brazil, using technology, crop rotation and cutting instead of burning shows a responsibility to the Earth and the people that our company does not seem to have. What it has given us is many years of excuses and lies.
Maggie Dickison
Kihei
