• Farm Bill,  Genetic Engineering

    Corn Imperialism: What U.S. Mexico Trade Policy Tells Us About the Need to Transform American Agriculture

    Harvesting a field of genetically modified corn

    Seeds are Storytellers

    A single kernel of corn contains the genetic story of how its ancestor plants adapted and survived. It tells the story of the humans who tended those plants over millennia, selecting varieties that could thrive in poor soils and in the face of drought.

    In Mexico, the birthplace of corn, Indigenous communities have created hundreds of varieties of seed, each with its own surprising storyline. For example, one variety of corn which has long been stewarded by the Mixe people of Oaxaca was recently found to fix its own nitrogen. This unexpected discovery, which could potentially contribute to the fight against climate change, reinforces the importance of the link between biodiversity and indigenous and local seed stewardship.