Sin Maiz, No Hay Pais

“Without corn, there is no country.” Mexico’s treasured crop is under threat from Montsanto. Come to the first Ajijic Corn Festival to learn about what we expats living in this beautiful “pais de maiz” can do to help. Locals please share this post!

Several years ago, Montsanto submitted two applications to grow GMO corn commercially in Mexico’s northwestern state Sinaloa. Both applications requested 1.7 million acres of land and both applications are still pending approval. Community advocates state that Mexico’s 59 varieties of native corn will be at risk if Monsanto is allowed to take hold of the corn market. GMO or modified corn seeds could contaminate heirloom varieties, and the pesticides used to protect GMO crops are harmful to beneficial insects like bees, which have been dying off in record numbers.

While Mexico is totally self-sufficient when it comes to the country’s white corn, they rely on GMO corn that comes from the United States to feed livestock. The cost of yellow corn imports are expected to rise by more than 20 percent in the next season, due to increasing production costs and the peso growing weaker.