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AgriCulture | Autonomía Zapatista and Agroecology

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Maíz resistente. School for Chiapas . Moderator’s Note: As part of a series on the 20 th anniversary of the Zapatista movement for Indigenous autonomy, we offer this first and original unauthorized translation of a report by Gallo Téenek. The report originally appeared in Spanish on Regeneración Radio in October 2013 and offers a “social perspective” on the meaning of direct democracy as constituted by Zapatista communities in the form of caracoles – which literally translates as “Snails” and figuratively alludes to the spiral shape of the snail shell. Don Durito and other Others might explain this as a symbol for the organizational form of Indigenous nurturing of deep place-based knowledge and also a nest or nido offering protective harbor for the social, biological, and cultural life of the organism and community.   Téenek desribes Zapatista grassroots institutions of collective action through a lengthy depiction of the Oventic Junta de Buen Gobierno or Good Government Coun...
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GEO Watch | Consumer Education Monsanto-Style

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Internet troll. Credit: Splitreason . World Food Prize winner outlines shift in strategy FOCUS ON CONSUMERS NOT JUST GROWERS Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | May 2, 2014 Robert Fraley, Monsanto’s Chief Technology Officer and this year’s winner of the dubious World Food Prize, recently admitted that Monsanto made a huge strategic error by focusing educational outreach on growers and ignoring consumers. An interesting analysis of this admission is presented in an overlooked report by Joan Faus published in the April 12, 2014 edition of El País   ( Spain).  Faus quotes Fraley admitting the error: “In the last twenty years almost all of our communication activities and education have been focused on farmers and it went very well. But the mistake we made is that we did not put enough effort toward consumer education.” Faus attended a press conference hosted last month by Fraley in St. Louis with invited members of the European press corps. The extended session revealed much about th...
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Maize Culture | Costa Rican Government Decrees Corn as Cultural Heritage

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Leyenda de origen.  Source: Radio Luzmar Declaration includes traditions, agriculture, customs, ideas, flavors and colors TRANSGENIC PLANTINGS ARE UNRESOLVED THREAT Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | July 28, 2014 We are all familiar with the idea that many ethnic and indigenous communities self-identify as “corn cultures” in the Americas. The most familiar case is that of Mexico since ancient civilizations proclaimed themselves to have arisen from maize. Indeed, the Mayan creation stories include the poetic account of how first woman and man are molded from white and yellow corn plants. One eloquent proponent of the concept of Mexico as a corn culture is Roberto Rodriguez whose doctoral studies focused on Centeotzintli, the traditional environmental knowledge and ritual practices associated with maize as a sacred plant. Lauren Baker – in a fabulous new book, Corn Meets Maize – is another scholar who observes that in indigenous communities, the cultivated fields of maize constitute a ...
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