by: Laura Schafenacker
Early on in the semester there was a blog post about genetically modified crops. Until recently I did not know how these crops were received outside of the United States. The CNN article: “Greenpeace Protests Genetically Modified Corn In Mexico” brought to my attention the use of genetically modified crops in other countries. The Mexican government recently approved 2 farming permits for the growth of genetically altered corn on their fields. For a country who’s main crop and livelihood is corn – with the majority of farmers getting their seed from previous harvests or other farmers – this is a big deal. If the genetically modified corn takes off in Mexico, all farmers would be required to buy their seeds from one of four companies, and pay royalties if their crop contaminates non-genetically modified crops. The government is trying this on a case-by-case basis, because it allows Mexico the ability to become independent from other countries. Currently Mexico imports 89% of feed corn (yellow corn vs the white corn that can be consumed by humans), and in 2007 Mexico faced a food shortage that lead its people to take to the streets to protest the price of tortillas, a staple food in the Mexican diet. Genetically engineered corn gives the option of greater yields, which would lower high food prices, lower Mexico’s dependence on the United States for corn, and increase the wealth of the country. But do these benefits outweigh the costs? Will the genetically engineered corn change the livelihoods and culture of the Mexican citizens?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/20/greenpeace.mexico/index.html
14 comments:
It will be interesting to see how Mexican diets will change if this new genetically modified corn takes off. The documentary "king corn" attributes the extremely high rates of type 2 diabetes in our country to our over-production of yellow corn. Because the corn has no nutritional value to humans, we use it in mass quantities to produce high fructose corn syrup. The makers of the documentary blame our health crisis on the dirt cheap distribution of this resulting high fructose corn syrup. Perhaps Mexicans will see negative dietary changes if yellow corn replaces white corn the way it did in this country.
I did not know that Mexico imports almost all of its corn. The new use of GMOs in Mexico could cause large famines because the GMO seeds could be too expensive for farmers to buy. It will be interesting to see the dietary health related issues that come about from this new reliance on less nutritious corn. GMOs have been vital to many areas of the world, but they can also have many downsides. It is a controversial issue that needs to be researched to see if it will greatly help the people of an area before people just start growing GMOs.
I couldn't agree more with Kerstin J. GMOs have potential to save hungry populations and increase crop yields but what are the health risks associated? Can pests evolve resistance to GM crops just as they can to pesticides? In addition, transgenes can jump from crops to weeds and inevitably make them turn into "superweeds" which in return devastates the land. I think that more research needs to be done before we we face potentially severe consequences.
This isn't something I know much about, but it seems in this instance the financial benefits could still be obtained without these costs. Why would the government only allow certain farmers to grow the GMO corn? If they allowed all farmers to grow this better corn, then the wealth other countries gain from exporting corn to Mexico could instead be evenly distributed throughout the farmers in Mexico. And how did they decide which farmers would receive this stroke of fortune? I suspect there may be some form of discrimination or even scandalism in this policy problem, unless I'm missing something...
I was surprised to see that Mexico has to import so much corn. When I think of corn and Mexico I think of the famous corn ships, tortilla's and all great foods you can make with them for cheap. My food cupboard is loaded with these cheap but really tasty food entities. I believe that Mexico should have a right to corn. The question is.. How much of the USA corn is already loaded with GMOs? I would suspect that the corn that Mexico is receiving is already loaded with GMOs so why not grow your own GMO corn for cheaper.
It's good for big business, industrial agg, and bad for independent farmers. GMO's are not a long term solution. As here in the states, high yield crops have only led to decreased prices, thus decreased profit per acre, and thus the only profitability is found on mega farms. This will be a disaster for Mexico. It only works here because our gov (OUR TAX DOLLARS) create profitability for industrial corn. That is not an option in Mexico.
When I was in Mexico over Winter Break last year, we stayed in a remote town on the Yucatan that had only dirt roads and no grocery stores within many Km. In order to get our food, the locals would bring fresh produce, meats and grocery store items on a pick up truck to our door every morning. I'd just like to say that the corn we purchased from them, was the best tasting corn I've ever had, and it seemed so fresh. Hopefully genetically modified corn will not sacrifice the health of the locals and amazing tasting foods of mexico. I still crave the fresh corn tostadas. Mmm.
As you mentioned, corn has been a staple in the Mexican diet for thousands of years...and now with subsidized American corn they can buy it at the store cheaper than they can farm it themselves! I saw this on a documentary and it blew my mind.
While I do believe genetically modified corn will aid the Mexican economy, it will also cause some harm. Diets will change as the price of certain foods, like beef, become decreased. The idea that the growers are responsible for all damages to existing crops is interesting and shows that there have been problems elsewhere.
I think monocultured crops such as corn are a very bad idea for future crop porduction in Mexico. There is always the argument that if a disease were to suddenly afflict the corn crop, it would wipe out the entire species.
It is important to consider the benefits of using less pesticides, however in the US there is one dominate company providing these GMO seeds which is monopolistic and costly to the farmer.
Although GMO's provide more yeild, farmers will be worse off in Mexico. Also if this idea takes off, land degredation will become a problem in Mexico because of the high demand and planting of corn.
The GMO corn in Mexico would likely increase the amount of food available, but I fear that the health consequences will cause a large increase in health problems, and if allowed to continue will be very hard to remove from the diet as avoiding high fructose corn syrup is in the United States.
As I said in the previous article about GMO's, it is hard for me to take a stance on either side. I do like that Mexico is letting farmers try it out before they make a decision that is best for them. As long as they also monitor the health of the people and land as well, they will make the decision that is best for their people (hopefully).
Although some might view Genetically Modifed Crops as a problem, I believe the bigger problem here is the monopoly which mega companies, such as Monasnto, hold over crops such as this. It reduces competition in the market and forces farmers to buy from them. While I do not believe all crops should be GMOs, I do feel that GM crops are definitely beneficial in some instances and take some of the stress/money out of farming for farmers.
I don't think this would be beneficial for Mexico. If they are buying their GMO corn from the US, then a few big companies have patented many strains of these GMO's. If they buy the corn from these companies and these seeds end up on a farmer's land who didn't purchase them, would they still be guilty of copyright infringement? I'm not sure because it's two different countries. I also think introducing GMO's will take the culture out of the many naturally evolved corns of Mexico.
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