Mexico Takes a Stand Against U.S. Big Ag and GMO Corn to Protect Their Native Varieties of Mexican Corn

Back in 2014 when my online food store, Healthy Traditions, started testing all of our USDA certified organic grains for the presence of the herbicide glyphosate, which is used in RoundUp and is the world's most-used herbicide, we were shocked to find out that even our USDA certified organic grains were almost all contaminated with glyphosate, even though they were "certified organic." We found out that the NOP (National Organics Program) allowed for small amounts of pesticides and herbicides in certified organic products, and so we stopped buying grains based on organic status, and also stopped "certifying" our own products as "organic," since it now has almost no meaning anymore. Big Food wanted in on the booming organic grocery business, and they have successfully watered down U.S. organic standards over the past decade or so. Instead, we started testing all of the products we wanted to purchase for the presence of glyphosate, and if we carried a product that had a GMO equivalent in the marketplace, we also tested for the presence of GMO DNA. It started a very long process for us to find grains that were not contaminated, and in most cases, we had to look outside the U.S. to find such grains that tested clean. Corn was, by far, the hardest product to source that tested clean of GMO DNA, and we even purchased certified organic corn products off the shelves of stores like Whole Foods, that were also GMO "verified," and all the samples we tested came back positive for genetically modified DNA. We were unable to find a single supplier of organic corn in the U.S. who had corn that tested clean. We finally found a supplier down in Central Mexico, in a Province that at that time had banned the planting of U.S. GMO corn, that finally tested clean of GMO DNA, and we have been selling corn from that region ever since, for almost 10 years now. Now, Mexico has decided to ban U.S. GMO corn nationwide, as well as ban the use of glyphosate, and the U.S. and Canada are trying to bully Mexico into continuing to import GMO corn.

Mexico’s Proposed Ban on GM Corn Angers the U.S. and Canada

Certain states in Mexico have banned the planting and cultivation of genetically modified corn from the U.S. in recent years, in order to preserve heirloom varieties of corn (maize) that have existed in Mexico for thousands of years. In 2022, Mexico proposed a ban on imports of GM corn as a country, and now the U.S. and Canada are teaming up to protest and to try and force Mexico to keep importing GM corn. The AP reported last week that Canada had joined the US in their trade dispute against Mexico’s proposed ban on GM corn. Canada’s Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food said in a statement: “Canada shares the concerns of the U.S. that Mexico’s measures are not scientifically supported and have the potential to unnecessarily disrupt trade in the North American market.” For U.S. and Canadian politicians to state that the claims that GM corn are hazardous to one's health "are not scientifically supported" is similar to saying that "the science is settled" when it comes to the alleged "safety" of vaccines. It is a total lie. The science showing how dangerous genetically modified food is, including the use of glyphosate herbicides sprayed on GM crops, is ABUNDANT. But similar to studies showing the toxicity and harms of vaccines, these studies are almost always censored, or if they get published, are usually later retracted due to the pressure of Big Ag interests.

Mexico’s Decision to Ban GMO Corn and Glyphosate Has Rocked the Agribusiness World

Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador quietly rocked the agribusiness world with his New Year’s Eve decree to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate and the cultivation of genetically modified corn. His administration sent an even stronger aftershock two weeks later, clarifying that the government would also phase out GM corn imports in three years and the ban would include not just corn for human consumption but yellow corn destined primarily for livestock. The bold policy moves fulfill a campaign promise by Mexico’s populist president, whose agricultural policies have begun to favor Mexican producers, particularly small-scale farmers. The prohibitions on genetically modified corn, which appear toward the end of the decree, have more profound implications. Comments by Brian Shilhavy, Editor, Health Impact News: "This is welcome news from Mexico. For years, my company Healthy Traditions, has tried to work with small-scale farmers in the U.S. to try and grow corn not contaminated with GMO DNA and the glyphosate herbicide. But no matter how hard our farmers tried to grow organic, non-contaminated corn, within one season it always tested positive for GMO DNA, as Big Ag's massive corn operations always contaminated their fields no matter how hard they tried to shield them. We did not sell any corn products for several years, as even organic corn products that were advertised as "GMO Free" tested positive for GMOs when we pulled their products off of the shelves of grocery stores. We finally found a source of Mexican corn in Central Mexico, where a ban on GMO corn existed, and that is the corn we have been purchasing and selling to the public for the past several years now, as it consistently has tested negative for GMOs and glyphosate. It is a true open-pollinated heirloom corn variety, representing the rich culture that exists in Mexico for their love of corn "maiz." These varieties, some thousands of years old, would soon be lost to the modern GMO crops without this protection.

EPA Seeks Limits on GMO Corn as Pest Resistance Grows

U.S. regulators for the first time are proposing limits on the planting of some genetically engineered corn to combat a voracious pest that has evolved to resist the bug-killing crops, a potential blow to makers of biotech seeds. The measures proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency represent a bold step to thwart the corn rootworm, a bug that ranks among the most expensive crop threats to U.S. corn farmers.

Brazil Farmers say GMO Corn no Longer Resistant to Pests

More bad news for GMO seed suppliers in Brazil, where strong opposition to GMOs continues. We reported earlier this year how the U.S. had a huge shipment of corn rejected at the border of China due to unapproved GMO corn in the shipment. China ordered corn from Brazil instead, giving them a major economic incentive to pursue non-GMO corn, as the U.S. is quickly losing the corn export market due to its value of GMO technology that other countries don't share. Now it is being reported by farmers in Brazil that the GMO corn is no longer protecting Brazilian farmers from voracious tropical bugs. They are seeking compensation for damages due to increased costs of pesticides to battle the problem.

France Bans Monsanto GMO Corn

France's agriculture ministry has just banned the sale, use and cultivation of Monsanto's MON 810 genetically modified maize, the only variety currently authorised in the European Union. The French government, which maintains that GM crops present environmental risks, has been trying to institute a new ban on GM maize (corn) after its highest court has twice previously struck down similar measures. The decision is timed to avert any sowing of GM maize by farmers before a draft law is debated on April 10 aimed at banning planting of GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

10 Years of Failure: Farmers in the Philippines Deceived by GM Corn

The Philippine group MASIPAG (Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development) released a mini documentary on the deception and 10-year failure of GM corn in the Philippines. That same day, executives from Monsanto and Syngenta were awarded the Nobel award "World Food Prize" for their contribution to GM seed technology. “It is quite tragic that on World Food Day, huge agrochemical companies who wrested away farmers’ rights on seeds, caused environmental degradation and pollution of our valuable genetic resources are put in high regard, while small and resource-poor farmers who nurtured the seeds and who feed the population are left landless and hungry.”

Mexican Judge Throws out Monsanto Appeal to Challenge GMO Corn Ban

Last October we reported about a judge in Mexico who ordered Monsanto and Pioneer to stop selling genetically modified seeds, banning the planting of genetically-engineered corn in Mexico. Sustainable Pulse has reported now that an appeal to the ban made by Monsanto has been thrown out by another Mexican judge.

Mexico Bans GMO Corn

A federal judge has ordered Mexico’s SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca, y Alimentación), which is Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, and SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), which is equivalent of the EPA, to immediately “suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot commercial plantings.” The unprecedented ban was granted by the Twelfth Federal District Court for Civil Matters of Mexico City. Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. wrote the opinion and cited “the risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis for the decision. The judge’s ruling also ruled that multinationals like Monsanto and Pioneer are banned from the release of transgenic maize in the Mexican countryside” as long as collective action lawsuits initiated by citizens, farmers, scientists, and civil society organizations are working their way through the judicial system.

Dangerous Banned GMO Corn Suddenly Appears in Food Supply

StarLink™ maize, the first genetically modified organism to be pulled off the market over a decade ago due to safety concerns, was recently found to be contaminating food products in Saudi Arabia. Does this mean that an illegal form of GM corn is still being produced in the US? And if so, renewed testing of US corn-containing products intended for human consumption both domestically and abroad should be initiated immediately.