The team in koatlikue pachamama

Koatlikue Pachamama: fighting against the spread of G.M. corn

Ever wanted to know how to harvest corn the organic way? Of course you have!! Well, have a look at this helpful video! 

Cheer up! Here's another way of seeing the problem!

Why do we have to take it all seriously? Can we find a way of making good things out of bad things? OF COURSE WE CAN!!!!! Watch this video and you'll laugh with this parody advertisement for Monsanto!

GMO dangers

Agent Orange, diseases, death, corruption …. and food? Is THIS what we want for our society? Many of these things were created by the same company, Monsanto. This important company is one of the main producers of GMO in the world. GMO is the abbreviation of Genetically Modified Organism, an organism (usually fruit, vegetables or seeds) whose genes were modified to achieve a goal, such as size, flavor, to avoid plagues and parasites, etc. Many of these modifications are made by adding dangerous chemicals to the source DNA. Many of these modifications are dangerous to humans and other animals that are fed on GMO grains. As a consequence, produce coming from those animals, like milk, eggs, etcetera, are affected as well as the animal itself. If we want to change this, the first step is to get informed! 

This link is a very interesting and informative video that tells more about this problem. Check it out!

Let's think!

If we have a car and we change the car’s engine for a new one, is it the same car or have we just improved it? This question may sound ambiguous, but let’s think a little; something that has its own structure, and we replace it with another whole different structure, what happens the: A. - The thing is the same thing as it was in the beginning B. - We just destroyed the first thing to create a new one. If your answer was the B option you might be right. Any thing is defined by its own special and unique characteristics, it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a person, a car, a plant or a stone; each object has its characteristics that defines it as one and only.

One of the most usual things to do nowadays, is to change the constitution of objects for the purpose of making them better for us, either for money, health, pleasure, etc. We as humans, tend to simplify everything so we can get what we desire faster and with less effort. This has been observed since the first human beings with the creation of tools; nonetheless we have an insatiable thirst for obtaining things faster and better, and this is where a lot of problems originate.

Many things we tend to improve are better for us and we don’t care, because they serve as a facilitator for many things; however, things such as food might be more interesting and something to worry about, than material things. Lately, since the discovery of the management of DNA, laboratories are able to change food’s constitution making them “better” and “healthier”. 

The mutation of food’s DNA is especially important in the area of crops. The modification of the crops can go from a transgenic apple to the modification of a whole phylum. As said before, many things are destroyed when their constitution is changed, and crops are not excluded. Some plants are in danger of extinction due to genetic modification. A clear example is corn. Corn was the base of many cultures' diets for over 7000 years, and now it’s about to disappear as a result of DNA modification.

In Mesoamerica many great cultures, like the Aztecs, the Mayas or Incas, venerate corn as a deity; this is not unusual because corn was the most important crop of all – almost every dish was made out of corn – so they gave it a very important role in their lives. Corn stood in American’s culture as one of the most important food of all. This is why the possible extinction of the corn as we know it today carries huge importance.

CORN IS IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION???!!! Yes, it may be in danger of extinction, due to genetic modification. Surprisingly, corn its being modified so it grows faster, bigger and tastier. The only problem with this is that the transgenic corn lacks some of the things that organic corn has, such as the unique and irreplaceable flavor, its growth cycle and posterior uses. Some of the genetic modifications that corn is suffering are done by famous laboratories, such as Bayern and Monsanto.

Monsanto is one of the most important and controversial companies in the world. Monsanto has managed to take control of many seeds for crops by making modifications in their DNA and then making a copyright on those seeds. Monsanto’s seeds are one of the highest selling seeds in the world, this comes as a result of many fiscal procedures and through deceptive tactics used on farmers. Monsanto might make crops grow faster and better, but they’re destroying some original plants in order to earn money.

This blog will contain information about transgenic corn, and its possible extinction, as well as Monsanto’s action in the world, and how people react to this kind of companies that threaten to destroy not only a kind of food but a whole culture and years of history.

ENJOY!