Monsanto in Mexico | Report on the grassroots struggle against transgenic crops in a major center of origin
All photos courtesy of CIP Americas’ Program Moderator’s Note: We are reposting what I consider to be the best report on the history of the struggle against Monsanto and other purveyors of transgenic crops in Mexico, which successfully defeated the ‘Gene Giants’ in Mexican courts to ban the planting of GMO corn and other transgenic crops that represent a real, proven threat to the native land race varieties in one of the world’s preeminent centers of origin for numerous domesticated crops including maize, beans, squash, and many others. The CIP Americas Program has been accompanying the grassroots movement of campesinos, indigenous communities, consumers and scientists to maintain the ban on genetically modified corn for over a decade. The pushback from Monsanto and other biotech companies has been constant, but cross-sector organization has succeeded in protecting Mexico’s native corn and campesino livelihoods from the threat. This report describes the latest developments. I...