Corn originated in Mexico, but fears that genetically modified seeds could contaminate these ancient varieties have led to bans on certain U.S. imports.
an agricultural system used throughout Mesoamerica to grow corn, beans, and squash. Since Mexico began importing U.S. corn, the number of milpas has steadily declined.The corn eaten around the world today originated in Mexico nearly 10,000 years ago. From the ancient rituals of the Mayans and Aztecs, to the tortillas, tamales, esquites, and just about every other staple dish served throughout the country today, corn is the centerpiece of culture, cuisine, and identity.
Mexico, however, insists that GM corn threatens human health, and that modified seeds threaten Mexico’s agricultural traditions and cultural identity.There is a Spanish idiom—“sin maíz no hay país”; meaning that “without corn, there is no country”— an ode to the legacy and treasure of this agricultural asset.
In the U.S., most corn is grown with seed produced by large corporations, which create just a handful of genetically identical corn varieties grown at mass scale. In Mexico, however, seeds come from seed-sharingThe mix of genetics housed in different native corn varieties can help corn adapt to challenging environments—a gene that confers drought tolerance, for example, could be cross bred into a variety that struggles without water.
“Right now, it may not have a big economic impact because what Mexico is using to produce flour, cornmeal, and tortillas is a very small percentage of their overall imports; but that does not mean the U.S. is not concerned with this being the tip of the iceberg,” says Kenneth Smith Ramos, former Mexican chief negotiator for the USMCA.
“If traditional farmers abandon subsistence farming, we’re potentially losing diversity whether that crop is GM or traditionally bred, so economic policy has a much bigger impact on risk of maize diversity than an adoption of GM corn,” he says.