------- Forwarded message follows -------<BR>To: <<A href="http://us.f411.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mexiconews@globalexchange.org&YY=35596&order=down&sort=date&pos=0">mexiconews@globalexchange.org</A>>(News from the Global<BR>Exchange<BR> Mexico Program)<BR>Date sent: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 08:40:46 -0700<BR>Subject: Genetically Engineered (GE) Corn Contamination - One<BR>Year Later<BR>From: Mexico Program <<A href="http://us.f411.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mexico@globalexchange.org&YY=35596&order=down&sort=date&pos=0">mexico@globalexchange.org</A>><BR><BR>[ Double-click this line for list subscription options ]<BR><BR>Dear Friends,<BR><BR>A little over one year ago, on September 18th, 2001, Mexico’s Ministry<BR>for Environment an
d Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) confirmed reports<BR>that native corn (maize) varieties in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and<BR>Puebla had been contaminated by genetically engineered varieties. The<BR>SEMARNAT’s admission confirmed the fears of many civil society<BR>organizations: the genetic contamination of a center of origin and<BR>diversity for one of the world’s most important crops, corn. For last<BR>year's alert and subsequent updates see<BR><A href="http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/news/gmo100101.html" target=_blank>http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/news/gmo100101.html</A>.<BR><BR>The announcement sparked a firestorm controversy with the publication<BR>of a report in the prestigious science journal ‘Nature.’ Nature<BR>published the findings by two UC Berkeley researchers, David Quist and<BR>Ignacio Chapela, which 1) exposed the genetic contamination of native<BR>corn, and 2) described potential modes of genetic contamination. The<BR>report wa
s sharply criticized by the biotechnology industry, not for<BR>the revelation of genetic contamination of corn, but for the way the<BR>genetic contamination is spreading.<BR><BR>Government response - one year later<BR><BR>One year after the SEMARNAT’s announcement, little has been done to<BR>mitigate the problem. Genetically Engineered corn imported from the<BR>United States, believed to be the largest primary source of<BR>contamination, will likely reach an all-time high this year; Mexican<BR>campesinos will further be undermined by the recently passed Farm Bill<BR>in the United States; top Mexican scientists in the Biosafety<BR>Commission (CIBIOGEM) resigned because their findings were not being<BR>taken into account; important Biosafety legislation has been stalled<BR>in the Mexican Congress.<BR><BR>On May 13th, President Bush signed the Farm Security and Rural<BR>Investment Act of 2002. The $248.6 billion bill represents an 80%<BR>increase over the 1996 farm bill, the Fr
eedom to Farm Act, and a major<BR>boon for corporate agribusiness giants like Cargill and Monsanto. The<BR>Farm Security and Rural Investment Act will further subsidize the<BR>surplus production of basic grains, like corn, leading to increased<BR>"dumping" of agriculture exports on the underdeveloped world.<BR>Increased Genetically Engineered corn exports from the United States<BR>will no doubt further undermine Mexico's food sovereignty, and expand<BR>the overall level of genetic contamination of native corn varieties.<BR><BR>The Intersecretarial Commission on Biosafety and GMOs (CIBIOGEM),<BR>created in 1999 under the Ernesto Zedillo administration, is comprised<BR>of the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Health, Public<BR>Education, Interior and Economy. The CIBIOGEM was created in response<BR>to a investigation by the National Science and Technology Commission<BR>(CONACYT), detailing potential impacts of GM corn in Mexico. In<BR>theory, the CIBIOGEM would provide a
n intersecretarial commission to<BR>address biosafety concerns through coordination of appropriate<BR>Ministries, thus facilitating the protection of Mexico's biological<BR>integrity.<BR><BR>However, on August 12th, 13 scientists of the CIBIOGEM’s technical<BR>council resigned their posts, citing that their views were not being<BR>taken into account by the Fox administration. The resignation of the<BR>CIBIOGEM’s top scientists is a step back for the Commission’s<BR>credibility, and puts the future of effective Biosafety measures in<BR>question.<BR><BR>Mexico ratified the Caratagena Protocol on Biosafety on May 1st, but<BR>the Protocol has yet to be converted to national law. At present there<BR>are 5 different Biosafety bills under consideration in the Mexican<BR>Congress. The different Bills represent not only one version of the<BR>original United Nations text, but several of Mexico’s political<BR>parties. The National Action Party’s (PAN) measure for example was<BR>created
in conjunction with representatives of Grupo Pulsar, Mexico’s<BR>leading biotechnology corporation, and largely reflects corporate<BR>interests.<BR><BR>Grassroots response -- one year later<BR><BR>Despite the apparent inactivity on behalf of the Mexican government,<BR>and international forums, like the Convention on Biological Diversity<BR>and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, civil society is<BR>responding.<BR><BR>On January 23 and 24, representatives from 70 ecologist, campesino and<BR>indigenous organizations, including academic and governmental<BR>representatives, met at the Hotel Ejecutivo in Mexico City to discuss<BR>the dire situation of Mexican corn. The conference, entitled "In<BR>Defense of Corn," was catalyzed by the urgent necessity to create a<BR>national citizen response to the recent confirmation of genetic<BR>contamination of Mexican native varieties of corn. Representatives<BR>from Global Exchange's Mexico program participated in the analys
is and<BR>development of an action plan with national NGOs and campesino<BR>organizations. In Chiapas, Global Exchange initiated a monitoring<BR>program to investigate the genetic contamination of native corn<BR>varieties, as well as carry out the conference's action plan with<BR>local organizations and communities.<BR><BR>April 10-17, 2002 marked the 1st Continental Week of Action against GE<BR>Corn. The Week was coordinated by Global Exchange, the Organic<BR>Consumers Association, CIEPAC, COMPITCH, among other Indigenous,<BR>campesinos and ecology organizations, aimed at informing and<BR>mobilizing indigenous and campesino communities, consumer and<BR>environmental organizations. The Week sparked a new beginning in the<BR>grassroots movement to address GE crops. For more information in this<BR>see:<BR><A href="http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/biodiversity/gmoCorn041" target=_blank>http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/biodiversity/gmoCorn041</A><BR>0
02. html<BR><BR>On April 24, indigenous, campesinos, and other civil society<BR>organizations presented a formal request that the Commission on<BR>Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to investigate the GE corn<BR>contamination in Mexico. The CEC established under the North American<BR>Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to promote environmental cooperation<BR>between NAFTA countries, and implement the North American Agreement on<BR>Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The CEC Secretariat notified NAFTA<BR>member countries on June 20th that the Commission would study the<BR>impacts of Genetically Engineered corn on native species, as well as<BR>carry out a nationwide genetic testing project of native corn samples<BR>for contamination.<BR><BR>Though the CEC’s decision to study the contamination of native Mexican<BR>corn is a small victory, the Commission will not release its findings<BR>till April 2003, at the earliest. Additionally, the CEC is limited to<BR>only providing recommendations
.<BR><BR>Marking a new era of cross-boarder organizing, Civil Society<BR>Organizations from Mesoamerica convened in Xela, Guatemala for the<BR>Second Week for Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge, from June 25 -<BR>29 2002. The Second Week brought campesinos, Indigenous Peoples,<BR>activists and consumers together to continue the regional organizing<BR>process started the year before in San Cristóbal de Las Casas,<BR>Chiapas, during the First Week for Biodiversity and Traditional<BR>Knowledge. Forum participants focused intently on the regional corn<BR>contamination crisis,in light of the recent announcement that food aid<BR>from the UN's World Food Program and United States Agency for<BR>International Development contained the Genetically Engineered corn<BR>variety, StarLink, that was unfit for human consumption and<BR>prohibited in the United States.<BR><BR>In light of governments and international conventions’ lack of desire<BR>or inability to address the problem,
the solution rests squarely on<BR>the shoulders of civil society. One such solution is the Mother Seeds<BR>in Resistance project in the Zapatista Aguascalientes of Oventic. The<BR>program demonstrates a local, autonomous solution, created in<BR>cooperation with cross-boarder activists.<BR><BR>Find below:<BR><BR>1) An article on the Mother Seeds in Resistance project in Oventic<BR><BR>2) An article on the recent report, “Seeds of Doubt,” by the Soil<BR>Association, Britain’s leading organic organization. The report<BR>reviews the commercial impact of GE crops in North America since 1996,<BR>and finds that GE crops have generally been an “economic disaster.”<BR>“Seeds of Doubt” will certainly play a significant role in the Mexican<BR>government’s deliberations on the future of GE crops in Mexico. For<BR>more information on the Soil Association and their recent report<BR>“Seeds of Doubt”<BR><A href="http://www.soilassociation.org/sa/saweb.nsf/getinvolved/geneng.html" target=_b
lank>http://www.soilassociation.org/sa/saweb.nsf/getinvolved/geneng.html</A><BR><BR>3) Information about NOW WITH BILL MOYERS PROBES THE CONTROVERSIES<BR>SURROUNDING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS, showing Friday, October<BR>4,<BR>2002 at 9pm ET on PBS (check your local listings at<BR><A href="http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html" target=_blank>http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html</A> ) -- Apologies to readers not in the<BR>USA --<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>----------------------------------------------- 1) Zapatista Seed<BR>Saving Project Puts Its First Collection of Traditional Corn Seeds<BR>Into Deep Freeze Storage in Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico<BR><BR>CHIAPAS, Mexico, Sept. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- The prayers of the<BR>kneeling school board members and education promoters were sung softly<BR>in Tzotzil. Eventually they floated above the burning candles and<BR>escaped through the metal door smiling as they gently caressing t
he<BR>fog-shrouded mural newly painted on the front of the massive concrete<BR>library.<BR><BR>"We're praying for survival of the mother seeds of corn and the<BR>success of our students who have just graduated," murmured the<BR>president of the school board. "With our wives and the new teachers we<BR>ask the creator to allow this school to continue and to give us the<BR>strength to continue our resistance."<BR><BR>The weeks before offering prayers at the school library were a blur of<BR>frenzy at the First of January autonomous secondary school in the<BR>Zapatista civilian center of Oventik, Aguascalientes II located in the<BR>highlands of Chiapas near the municipal center of San Andres<BR>Sacamch'en de los Pobres. Two years after opening the first<BR>autonomous, indigenous secondary school there was plenty to do. Dozens<BR>of varieties of corn seed had to be readied for final storage,<BR>students had to practice for their first-ever graduation day, dances<BR>had to be final
ized, poems had to be memorized, and a feast had to be<BR>prepared for graduation day. The prayers would only come after all the<BR>work was completed.<BR><BR>Visiting scientist supports young teachers<BR><BR>Teachers certainly had plenty to do, but attending classes in seed<BR>saving techniques from a visiting scientist topped the agenda for<BR>every single education promoter at this civilian Zapatista center know<BR>as Oventik, Aguascalientes II.<BR><BR>"We just wanted to tell you how exciting it is to study about<BR>preserving our original corn." Juan and Pedro, young teachers - as<BR>young as the students themselves - told a workshop organizer during<BR>the first week of study. "We want to thank you for these talks and<BR>discussions. It's good to talk about these things in Tzotzil because<BR>it is our own language."<BR><BR>Mother Seeds in Resistance from the Lands of Chiapas is a popular seed<BR>bank established on Jan. 1, 2002 by the autonomous, indigenous school<BR>sy
stem in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. "The big companies like<BR>Monsanto are sending their genetically modified corn everywhere,"<BR>commented one education promoter during a January 2002 interview in<BR>Oventik, Aguascalientes II. "We have to save our original corn from<BR>infections by these dangerous new forms of life."<BR><BR>Safe Houses for the Mother Corn<BR><BR>Large sheets of butcher paper covered the walls of the new second<BR>story classroom. One sheet boldly described in Spanish and Tzotzil two<BR>types of "safe houses" for Mother Corn.<BR><BR>"We have to protect these little seeds because they are under attack<BR>just like our communities," softly explained one young, education<BR>promoter. "My grandfather was killed because he defended the<BR>traditions of our community and he believed in justice and democracy.<BR>Now even if I am an indigenous woman I have to defend our corn so that<BR>our traditions can continue." There were drawings of the safe house<BR>
for the seed itself and there were drawings of "safe houses" for the<BR>indigenous knowledge that surrounds and gives the seed and the Maya<BR>people their eternal cycle of life. "You see the seed that cannot<BR>survive without its' people, and we cannot survive without our corn."<BR><BR>"What sort of a camp is this?" demanded the city dweller who had<BR>driven three hours into the mountains from the state capital of<BR>Tuxtula Gutierrez. "Where do all these people come from and what are<BR>they doing?" The indigenous community leader's only comment was that<BR>the hospital was taking care of patients, the school had students, and<BR>some people were visiting to help with some project.<BR><BR>The drivers' jaw dropped open farther as he saw the sprawling hillside<BR>complex beside a tiny Maya village included brand new school<BR>buildings, a massive auditorium, an Olympic sized basketball court<BR>facing a large plaza, metal and woodworking workshops, a beautiful<BR>church, a
nd rough wooden dormitories with dozens of Mexican and<BR>foreign visitors on school construction teams or attending language<BR>classes. The delivery man's questions continued as the freezer was<BR>connected to the new electrical service and a silent and dark Virgin<BR>of Guadalupe complete with Zapatista mask took her place on the wooden<BR>wall above the humming white machine.<BR><BR>"Before the seed can sleep for many years in the freezer," explained<BR>the visiting scientist, "our laboratory techniques must prove that the<BR>moisture content of the see is below 6 percent; otherwise when the<BR>water inside the corn seed freezes it will expand and burst the cell<BR>membranes killing the seed."<BR><BR>The promoters set up their own production line in one of the new two<BR>story classrooms as the day dawned and light streamed into the room<BR>still waiting for chalkboards and electricity. One team sifted the<BR>seed out of the lime where they were stored temporarily to kee
p them<BR>dry and safe from insects. Their red bandana masks that usually<BR>protect their identities and identify them as Zapatistas had the more<BR>practical purpose of filtering out lime dust.<BR><BR>Inside, teams of indigenous youth shuttled pots full of corn out to<BR>the sifters and another team wrote registration numbers and collection<BR>data on the foil and plastic bags and labels and entered each<BR>collection into a central registry. The seed teams poured the corn<BR>seed into the marked bags and took them to the drying team. There the<BR>education promoters carefully placed open bags on pans of a<BR>gypsum-drying agent inside a waterproof environment created by two<BR>large plastic bags tied with bright colored thread. Several days later<BR>found the entire group of education promoters bashing dozens of<BR>multicolored corn seeds that balanced precariously on rocks placed on<BR>the classroom floor.<BR><BR>"If the seed mashes it proves that the water content is ab
ove the six<BR>percent we need," explained one teacher who happily waved a large<BR>steel hammer in one hand while balancing a baby on her hip with the<BR>other hand. "When the seed shatters it is dry enough to be sealed in<BR>these foil bags and placed in the freezer where it will be safe for<BR>many years from infections by genetically modified pollen."<BR><BR>Later in the day students switched to one hundred percent Tzotzil as<BR>they explored the uses of corn in their communities. "I'll write it<BR>for everyone," exclaimed the enthusiastic education promoter leaping<BR>forward. Everyone shouted out names and spoke excitedly, all laughing<BR>and debating and talking at the same time over the finer points and<BR>the many variations among their far-flung communities. "You really are<BR>men and women of corn," joked a visiting teacher trainer as the list<BR>of Tzotzil nouns grew longer and longer.<BR><BR>After the students walked the muddy pathways returning to their homes,<
BR>a tiny red spot glowed brightly outside the freezer's building<BR>signaling that the high tech machine was functioning. And as the<BR>moonlight streamed brightly above, light from the large candles still<BR>burning in the school's library seemed to accept and welcome the<BR>weaker illumination from the safely sleeping seeds. Let us all pray<BR>that these people and their corn can survive this brave new world.<BR><BR>Maya Seed Saving as an Educational Program<BR><BR>Mother Seeds in Resistance from the Lands of Chiapas is both<BR>educational and practical. The project encourages indigenous students<BR>to assume responsibility for continuing the science and culture of<BR>corn passed on from their Maya ancestors, for thousands of years.<BR><BR>In addition to collecting and preserving these vital original seeds,<BR>students are researching, recording, and studying a vast amount of<BR>agricultural and cultural information from these farmers. This data<BR>includes the types of s
oils and mini-climate most suited to each seed<BR>type, recipes for preparing each type of corn, as well as ceremonies<BR>and stories associated with each variety of corn. The Zapatista<BR>Education System's seed bank management is integrated as a continual<BR>relationship between the farming families and the schools; between the<BR>high-tech freezer and the traditional milpa. Collecting, learning and<BR>guarding their heritage is a learning process for all students. The<BR>entire community of adults and elders who plant and harvest corn to<BR>live, are therefore the principal teachers of the students and the<BR>education promoters who have replaced the government's teachers in the<BR>autonomous schools.<BR><BR>Mother Seeds in Resistance from the Lands of Chiapas is also a<BR>response to the threat posed by the contamination and displacement of<BR>indigenous corn varieties by the genetically engineered and high input<BR>varieties from the industrialized north that are floodi
ng rural Mexico<BR>in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).<BR><BR>Mexico, which is the center of origin of corn and carries the world's<BR>greatest diversity of corn, banned cultivation of transgenic corn in<BR>1998. However, the ban is only on the cultivation not on the import of<BR>corn seed. Five million tons of North American corn, almost all<BR>transgenic, is imported every year. Transgenic corn was found growing<BR>in Oaxaca in 2001. Then in 2002 Mexican scientists reported that 12<BR>percent of the plants they sampled from Oaxaca and Puebla were<BR>contaminated or were transgenic varieties. The alarming situation<BR>forced the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)<BR>in Mexico City to check all of its corn stocks for contamination.<BR><BR>Attending the National Forum in Defense of Mexican Corn in January of<BR>2002, Zapatista representatives Ricardo and Genaro noted that "We are<BR>people who are made of corn and earth" and
declared their fear that<BR>"agro-chemical companies have patented our natural corn so that we<BR>will then have to buy trans-genetic corn." At the forum they announced<BR>their intention to start their own seed-banks to preserve and protect<BR>their "mother seeds" safe from contamination and annihilation by the<BR>invasion of foreign corn strains.<BR><BR>Students collected sixty-one local varieties of corn from communities<BR>throughout the highlands, earlier in the year. In a series of<BR>educational and practical workshops during August, these collections<BR>were dried to a low moisture content, sealed in special seed storage<BR>bags and placed into long term storage in a freezer in the Schools for<BR>Chiapas office in Oventic.<BR><BR>Oventic was established as Aguascalientes II, after the destruction of<BR>the original Aguascalientes in the community of Guadalupe Tepeyac by<BR>the Mexican Army in the failed 1995 offensive to arrest the EZLN<BR>leadership.<BR><BR>The five
Aguascalientes are regional civilian cultural centers with<BR>schools, clinics, meeting places businesses and workshops to serve and<BR>support the Zapatista communities and to promote the Zapatista culture<BR>and spirit. The Zapatista spirit is made visible in Oventic. It is a<BR>spirit of autonomy. It is a spirit of resistance to the global system<BR>that sneers at them and wants them gone. It is a spirit of dignity as<BR>they resist, and as they walk, creating their own path before them.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>----------------------------------------------- 2) UK report casts<BR>doubt on North American GM crops By Veronica Brown<BR><BR>LONDON, Sept 17, 2002 (Reuters) - Genetically modified crops in North<BR>America have been an economic disaster, which has caused some farm<BR>groups there to call for a moratorium on GM wheat, the next proposed<BR>crop to be altered, a report released on Tuesday said.<BR><BR>The st
udy by the Soil Association, Britain's leading organic<BR>organisation, estimated that gene-altered maize, soya and rapeseed may<BR>have cost the U.S. economy $12 billion since 1999 in farm subsidies,<BR>lower crop prices, loss of major export orders and product recalls.<BR><BR>Scientists have said that the advent of such crops could be the answer<BR>to world hunger, but the report said claims of increased yields have<BR>not been realised overall -- except for a small increase in some maize<BR>yields.<BR><BR>The report said farmers are not achieving the higher profits promised<BR>by the biotech companies as markets for GM food collapse, citing<BR>widespread GM contamination at all levels of the food and farming<BR>industry as the source.<BR><BR>"Within a few years of the introduction of GM crops, almost the entire<BR>$300 million annual US maize exports to the EU had disappeared, and<BR>the US share of the soya market had decreased," the report said.<BR><BR>"The lost export
trade as a result of GM crops is thought to have<BR>caused a fall in farm prices and hence a need for increased government<BR>subsidies, estimated at an extra $3-$5 billion annually," it added.<BR><BR>MORATORIUM<BR><BR>It found that severe problems with gene-spliced crops has led more<BR>than 200 groups representing farmers and the organic sector in North<BR>America to call for a moratorium on the introduction of GM wheat.<BR><BR>For the last several years, leading biotech company Monsanto has<BR>stressed the benefits its genetically modified Roundup Ready wheat can<BR>bring to farmers.<BR><BR>The herbicide resistant strain, for which Monsanto is currently<BR>seeking regulatory approval, could mean efficiencies and potentially<BR>higher yields for farmers, according to the firm.<BR><BR>Public opinion in Europe is wary of gene-altered crops after a string<BR>of food safety scares, including mad cow disease, and there is a<BR>three-year de facto ban in place on approvals of ne
w GM varieties.<BR><BR>Soil Association Director Peter Melchett said the report came as a<BR>timely note of caution to Britain ahead of a decision due next year on<BR>whether to commercialise GM crops following its three-year field test<BR>programme.<BR><BR>"With UK agriculture still suffering a deep economic crisis, the<BR>temptation to seize a new technology is great," he told the media at<BR>the report's launch.<BR><BR>"GM technology was introduced to the USA when farmers were financially<BR>vulnerable. The biotechnology industry's claims that their products<BR>would bring benefits were widely accepted, but GM crops have now<BR>proved to be a financial liability," he added. Melchett said he hoped<BR>the report would result in a better informed public debate, and a more<BR>independent, less pressurised decision about the commercialisation of<BR>GM crops in the UK.<BR><BR>Britain's government formally launched a public debate on the issue<BR>earlier this year, but trust in
biotech companies took a battering<BR>recently with the disclosure of small impurities in field trials for<BR>oilseed rape, which threatened to derail the government's field trial<BR>programme on the environmental impact of such crops.<BR><BR>The blunder also prompted UK environment minister Michael Meacher to<BR>break with the government's broadly GM-sympathetic government line,<BR>saying that the country was being pressured by the U.S. to allow<BR>commercial planting of gene-spliced crops. "I do think it's right that<BR>there are people in the government who are beginning to see that you<BR>cannot both promote organic farming and promote GMO's at the same<BR>time," Melchett said.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>----------------------------------------------- 3) Coming up on NOW<BR>with Bill Moyers on Friday, October 4, 2002 at 9pm ET on PBS (check<BR>your local listings at <A href="http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html" target=_
blank>http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html</A> ) --<BR>Apologies to readers not in the USA --<BR><BR>NOW WITH BILL MOYERS PROBES THE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING<BR>GENETICALLY<BR>ENGINEERED CROPS<BR><BR>A quiet revolution has taken place in America's farm fields. Since<BR>1996, the acreage of genetically engineered crops has swelled from<BR>zero to more than 90 million acres. Corn has been genetically<BR>engineered to act as its own pesticide and kill the insects that can<BR>devastate a harvest. Soy has been genetically engineered to withstand<BR>an herbicide that wipes out the threat from weeds. Genetically<BR>engineered ingredients are now in 70% of the processed foods on<BR>American grocery shelves. Yet there have been few long-term studies<BR>completed to predict the potential consequences. Are these new crops<BR>good for the environment, for farming, for human health?<BR><BR>In "Seeds of Conflict," airing Friday, October 4, 2002, at 9 P.M., on<BR>PBS (check local listings),
NOW with Bill Moyers goes inside the corn<BR>controversy. NOW producer Gail Ablow and NOW correspondent and Nation<BR>magazine reporter Mark Schapiro travels to Mexico, the genetic<BR>birthplace of corn, and to the heart of American agriculture in the<BR>Midwest to speak to the farmers and scientists on both sides of the<BR>issue. The investigation continues in a companion article by Schapiro<BR>that will be published the week following the broadcast in the Nation.<BR><BR>"Genetically engineered food crops, mostly corn and soybeans, make<BR>farmers' lives easier in the short term, but there is an enormous<BR>amount we don't know about its long term implications for the<BR>environment," says Schapiro. "Six years out of the laboratory and into<BR>the fields, and the potential risks have barely been studied. We're<BR>starting to see indications that it may not be as foolproof as the<BR>claims suggest."<BR><BR>Some scientists working at the cutting edge of plant biotechnology<BR
>believe that the potential benefits from genetically engineering crops<BR>are extraordinary. "I think the potential for plant production systems<BR>for vaccine products is huge," says Dr. Kan Wang, a researcher at the<BR>Iowa State University. "There are a lot of companies working on this<BR>issue...vaccines for HIV, for Hepatitis B, for maybe Alzheimer's are<BR>in the future."<BR><BR>While genetically engineered corn now accounts for 30% of the total<BR>U.S. corn crop and can be found as an ingredient in corn sweeteners,<BR>cooking oils, breakfast cereals, some countries are troubled by the<BR>rapid increase in production. The government of Mexico is particularly<BR>concerned about genetically engineered corn, which has been discovered<BR>in Mexico's crop even though it was banned four years ago. The<BR>diversity of Mexico's corn crop-hundreds of farmer varieties are grown<BR>there-is considered essential to the corn's survival.<BR><BR>"This diversity is the basis of our f
ood supply," says Mauricio<BR>Bellon, an human ecologist at the International Maize and Wheat<BR>Improvement Center (CYMMYT) in Mexico. "We need this diversity to cope<BR>with the future, with evolution, with unpredictable things."<BR><BR><BR><BR>This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to<BR> the mailing list <<A href="http://us.f411.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mexiconews@globalexchange.org&YY=35596&order=down&sort=date&pos=0">mexiconews@globalexchange.org</A>>.<BR>To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <<A href="http://us.f411.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mexiconews-off@globalexchange.org&YY=35596&order=down&sort=date&pos=0">mexiconews-off@globalexchange.org</A>><BR>For more information about Global Exchange's Mexico Human Rights<BR>Program visit: www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico<BR><BR>Send any administrative queries to<BR><<A href="http://us.f411.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mexiconews-request@globalexchange.
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