With a focus on protecting the purity of Mexico’s most basic food crop, the first annual Ajijic Corn Festival was celebrated Saturday, May 20, tying into March Against Monsanto events held worldwide that day in opposition to the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Ajijic’s Corn Fest festival opened with a ceremony based on ancient Mesoamerican rituals, with participants turning to the four cardinals in tribute to the forces of nature. Guest speakers talked about the potential health hazards of consuming GMO-tainted “Frankenfoods” (including those made from with masa flour and dried corn imported from the United States), the benefits and availability of organic farm goods, and the important role of maize in Mexico’s history and legends.
An exhibit set up adjacent to the Malecón amphitheater allowed visitors to view a display of different types of Mexican corn, to snack on corn-on-the-cob, assorted steamed veggies and homemade tamales, to sip cool drinks, and to purchase locally produced crafts, including colorful flowers and figurines made from corn husks by the women of San Cristobal Zapotitlan on Chapala’s south shore.
Monsanto is a U.S.-based multinational corporation renowned and widely vilified as the leading producer of GMO seeds and the herbicide glyphosate, marketed under the brand name Roundup. Critics oppose the company’s growing hegemony over agriculture and food production in many nations, pointing to chronic diseases and environmental damages that may be linked to GMO products and pesticide exposure.
Mexican activists are particularly concerned about the alternation and eventual extinction of native corn species that may be provoked by allowing the introduction of GMO seeds in the nation’s fields, currently banned under a Supreme Court injunction. Referring to Mexico as the “cradle of maize,” anti-GMO movement leaders underscore the rich diversity of the country’s native strains, including wild varieties of ancient origin that were discovered in Jalisco’s Sierra de Manantlan protected bio-reserve. Scientists have identified the endemic teocintle maize as unique in the world. Its future existence could be in peril if exposed to out-crossing pollination from GMO crops.