As I looked into the issue of the Zapatista Corn, the more I am reminded of the importance that agriculture and food play in forming culture. It’s something that I was not really conscious of before, but when I really think about it it seems that so much of what we associate with culture is around daily interactions and celebrations which tend to revolve around food. So it was quite an awakening for me to read about how certain nations and indigenous cultures have to fight and protest to preserve such integral parts of their culture.
This is not the first I had read about the issues that revolve around modern agriculture, having studied the rise of high fructose corn syrup in an economics course I could draw connections with the story of the Zapatistas. The effect on the mass production of corn for corn syrup as a cheaper alternative to sugar has had detrimental effects on the health of Americans on a grand scale, and once can see how such changes to one’s diet can trickle into the cultural realm.
So it makes perfect sense to me that the people of Mexico would be alarmed about the introduction of GMO corn into their crops, not to mention the issue of large American firms such as Monsanto using Mexican land for their production. We can see how the introduction of a new kind of corn would be a threat to agriculture and sustenance which is such a big part of the Mexican culture.
The article brought to my attention the concept of a Biocultural Innovation, something that I was not aware of. In particular, activists using reaching out to farmers about techniques such as genetic testing, seed banking, and the use of global distribution to strengthen the movement against GMO corn.
Can we think of any other similar movements against neoliberal policies that have gained traction in the region and how were their techniques similar or different to that of the Zapatistas?