Ep. 1363: A Mexican Maize Standoff

Carey Gillam, Author, The Monsanto Papers & Research Director, U.S. Right to Know

(GMOs, WTO, Glyphosate, International Food trade)

After standing firm on its plan to ban genetically modified corn from Germany, and the attendant pesticides from China, Mexico capitulated to the demands of the United States and cancelled its plan to ban. That leads us to ask:

Why did Mexico stand-down from its GMO maize stand-off?

A while back I participated in a panel discussion at the U.S. Farmer and Rancher Alliance International Biotech conference in Chicago. The subject was genetically modified crops.

If memory servces, the panel included the presidents of the National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Producers Council, American Soybean Association and others. The audience consisted of the biotech industry professionals who re-engineer the genetic intelligence of crops to make them more compliant to the needs of farmers and ranchers.

In my concluding remarks, I gestured to the biotech professionals in the audience and said, “The technology you have developed to re-engineer crops is truly miraculous. You have made it possible for one farmer to grow a thousand acres of crops without weeds or insects! That truly is a miracle! Your technology has made you rich, and made the farmers and ranchers of America happy. However, one day the people who eat your food are going to wake up and say: “Hey! What’s in this technology for us, other than food that is infused with insecticides and drenched in herbicides?

“When that day comes, you are going to need to provide the people who eat your food with an answer. What will your answer be?”

That day appears to have arrived. But to my knowledge, no answer has been given, other than, “Shut up and eat the cheap food.” That leads us to the recent capitulation of Mexico on its Maize stand-off with the United States, Germany and China. And so we ask:

Why did Mexico stand-down from its GMO maize stand-off?

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