Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/30780
The contamination of native races of maize in Mexico with transgenes is considered a threat to Oaxaca’s celebrat- ed maize diversity, in that there is a possibility that maize with transgenes, created to be extra pest- and fungus- resistant, could dilute the genetic vigor of local maize races, cultivated over multiple millennia. Some varieties of Oaxacan maize have been so carefully bred as to now be considered evolutionary “specialists” for an individual hillside. What’s wrong with fungus-resistant corn, you ask? In some rural Mexican areas, a certain species of corn fungus is considered a culinary delicacy! What’s wrong with pest- resistant corn? Some women I spoke with reported that they believed transgenic corn to have smaller ears, with ker- nels that didn’t dry well for masa-making. The larger point: Scientists engineered transgenic corn to serve the interest and convenience of big agribusiness, but rural Oaxacans bred indigenous varieties of corn over countless generations to serve localized tastes, customs, prefer- ences and climates. Where do women fit into all of this? As head cooks in their house- holds, rural Latin American women retain significant knowledge about desirable qualities in their food items, and their experienced selec- tivity influences seed saving and swapping practices. Some suggest this has been true even from the in- vention of the Zea mays species: that it was women who patiently bred corn from wild grasses those thousands of years ago. With this in mind, we can see the ancient sisterhood, I don’t wish to paint rural Mexican women as mere i call on american thinkers, writers and activists to put on ecofeminist goggles and give the two paeans to greed—nafta and cafta— a thorough read. still alive and evolving today, between women and corn. Corn is a key part of a rural Mexican woman’s sustenance from birth to the world beyond death: Nursing mothers are often given a corn and cocoa drink to increase their milk, and corpses buried in traditional Zapotec cere- monies are sent to the afterlife with handfuls of cornmeal to nourish them on their souls’ long journeys. Conversely, women as “maize processors” and seed savers play a key role in the sustenance of local maize races. The transgenic pollen now loosed onto Mexican winds en- ters these women’s cornfields without their consent, and it modifies the biodiversity and physical characteristics of their corn in unpredictable ways. Given rural Mexican women’s exceptional level of intimacy and expertise with maize, I’m betting that if they had been included in the ini- tial discussions, conceptions, drafting and implementation of NAFTA, they would never have allowed the 1 to 2 mil- lion tons of transgenic maize to enter their country, unla- beled, as the fathers of NAFTA have allowed each year since the agreement’s ratification. www.msmagazine.com poster children for the rape of the global south by the north; they are, after all, whole people with whole lives and complex concerns, many of which have nothing to do with the United States. These women do not pass their time huddled in corners discussing, in trembling voices, the latest oppressive policy to come across the border. No, they have better things to do: tortillas to make, daughters to raise, mothers to bury, seeds to sort. I simply wish to highlight aspects of liberalized trade, as practiced post- NAFTA, that were invisible to my younger, more dismis- sive self. The Central America Free Trade Agreement, basically a version of NAFTA applied to Central America and the Dominican Republic, barely squeaked by its July 2005 ratification in the U.S. House of Representatives, passing by just two votes. This points to a growing American unease with a brand of liberalized trade that benefits a few and harms many. In order to work for justice, both environmental and feminist, Ameri- can activists cannot keep a narrow focus on domestic issues while pro- ponents of “neoliberal trade” con- tinue to work toward a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Some activists have dubbed the FTAA “NAFTA on steroids,” since it applies most of NAFTA’s provisions to all the products, people and biomes from Canada to the tip of Chile. The über-male connotation of this “on steroids” claim is right in step with George W. Bush’s own stock phrases for pro- moting his trade agenda in the Americas. When he spoke of “knocking down” trade barriers and “opening” new markets, he sounded eerily like a teenage boy making cherry-busting brags. I call on American thinkers, writers and activists to put on ecofeminist goggles and give the two paeans to greed— NAFTA and CAFTA—a thorough read. (The govern- ment has posted the full texts of both agreements online.) Then together, in front of our lawmakers’ offices, in streets, in magazines, with our dollars and our sense, let’s practice sisterhood and fellowship with all residents of the Americas, particularly those residents, human and other- wise, that big-business-favoring transnational agreements attempt to ignore. n For further reading on the movement for maize farmers’ and consumer rights, see www.organicconsumers.org/corn. MARIA MELENDEZ publishes the literary magazine Pilgrimage in Pueblo, Colo. She has published two poetry collections, How Long She’ll Last in This World and Flexible Bones. She is also a contributing editor for Latino Poetry Review and acquiring editor for Momotombo Press. SPRING 2011 | 53