Thread by @GMWatch

Escalating U.S.-Mexico debate over corn forces questions about #GMOs, cultural identity, food sovereignty and the U.S.'s imperialistic relationship with Mexico | Good article from @Salon salon.com/2023/06/07/esc…

@Salon US wants dispute confined to discussion of scientific evidence about whether #GMO corn is directly harmful to health. Ideal arena for agribiz, given the majority of industry research dollars have been spent on new products rather than health & safety evaluations of consuming them

@Salon Science writers often report on early-stage research promising plants using less water etc. but what's missing is which #GMOs get distributed. The most widely used #GMO corn is #glyphosate tolerant. W/ so much sprayed come resistant weeds which leads farmers to use old herbicides

@Salon Meanwhile, #glyphosate has lost its reputation as mostly harmless: Chemical giant @Bayer has paid billions to settle cancer lawsuits from people who handled Roundup and a mounting body of evidence shows that the compound is harmful to non-target insects and soil microorganisms.

@Salon @Bayer The troubling relationship between #GMOs & #pesticides is a worldwide issue, but in Mexico, preserving biodiversity makes an even more compelling case. As the birthplace of corn, Mexico is home to more varieties than anywhere else on earth & they're at risk of being lost forever.

@Salon @Bayer In a future where shifting climate patterns and other uncertainties make agriculture less predictable, the native corn biodiversity that Mexican farmers have safeguarded by keeping thousands of traditional landraces under cultivation will be a boon for breeders.

@Salon @Bayer Take the Oaxacan corn whose mucus-coated roots host communities of nitrogen-providing bacteria, a trait that could eliminate the need for nitrogen fertilizers. Geneticists have tried for years to develop such traits but it was smallholders who grew and preserved it over centuries

@Salon @Bayer And beyond valid environmental & economic concerns, corn also has cultural significance. For the Indigenous, whose ancestors bred it from nearly unrecognizable teosinte, corn is much more than masa or animal feed, even retaining a religious importance for many farmers in Mexico.

@Salon @Bayer Countries, communities & individuals have a right to choose what they eat. But an economically insignificant concession to food sovereignty would threaten the US-first reality of NAFTA/USMCA, a more existential threat to US agribusiness than a few missed shipments of white corn.

@Salon @Bayer This dispute is born out of a long history of economic policy that puts US business profits over the needs of Mexican citizens. Prioritizing food sovereignty in a trade environment that so often leaves small farmers and poorer countries at a disadvantage threatens US imperialism.