Mexican
teosinte corn has undergone centuries of breeding by indigenous small farmers in
what constitutes the world center for the biodiversity of corn with 20,000
varieties (Cummins, p.1-3). However, in the birthplace of corn an invasion has
been underway that was only recently discovered in the remote highlands of
Oaxaca, Mexico. The invader is GM corn that has been found along roadsides,
cracks in sidewalks and anywhere there is soil including remote mountain
settlements. Since GM corn is not a local product and is not welcomed in Mexico,
locals have speculated that the GM variety was from GM subsidized GM corn
brought in as food aid to the local communities. These communities, as well as
other communities around the world are now worried about the effects that the GM
corn is having on their own local crops and people.
In
Mexico, where corn still forms a part of the staple diet, the effects of GM
crops are an important issue. Allison Snow, plant ecologist at Ohio State
University in Columbus says that research on GM crops shows that,
"the result of GM crops mixing with other crops may be very hardy,
hard-to-kill weeds.” As a result of a six-year experiment, it was found that
GM crops held new genetic traits such as resistance to herbicides or pests that
could result in out-competing the crops. There was also delayed flowering and
reduced fertility in GM crops. These genetic traits added through genetic
engineering are able to spread to weeds and become permanent traits of the weed
population (Harder, p.1-3).
One
example of a GM crop with severe side effects is Starlink Corn produced by
Aventis Crop Science. Starlink was engineered to be toxic to insects. However,
it was found to be heat stable and resistant to stomach acids and enzymes, thus
rendering it indigestible by the human body. As an allergen, it was shown to
cause skin rashes, nausea, and respiratory problems. In severe cases, allergens
can cause anaphylactic shock (hypersensitivity to a foreign substance) or death
(ENS. #2, p.1, 2).
In
an attempt to reassure local populations, researcher and microbial ecologist
Ignacio Chapela from the University of California, Berkeley met with Mexican
scientists in 2001 to verifying their findings. However, their findings were not
very reassuring. The research team under Dr. Chapela found that DNA from GM corn
had been contaminating the local varieties in Oaxaca for more than a year.
However, shortly after the results of his study became public, the Mexican
government tried to shut down any further research.
When
the Mexican government heard of his study they responded with a summons from
Fernando Ortiz Monasterio of the biodiversity commission to Chapela to a
deserted building and requested that Chapela suspended any further research.
Chapela responded by publishing his findings in ‘Nature’ magazine. However,
when the scientists from the biodiversity commission and the National Institute
of Ecology found that the problem was actually worse than reported by Chapela,
top-level Mexican officials once again pressured them to keep quiet on the
subject (Coale, p.1, 2).
The
reason for pressure from the Mexican government seems to be their growing worry
over the local corn supply. As subsidizing farmers is becoming more expensive,
and GM corn is dumped for sale in Mexico local farmers are struggling which
creates more dependence on the imported GM corn. Millions of tons of GM corn are
exported to the centers of corn biodiversity in Mexico, C. America, S. America
and the Caribbean (Cummins, p.1-3). However, Rasulullah [Prophet Mohammed] said,
“O ye who believe! Eat up not your property among yourselves in vanities, but
let there be among you traffic and trade by mutual good will” (Sunan Dawood,
27: 3744).
Now
Mexico is fighting back, but some believe it could be too late. In 2000, 130
countries fought for the international treaty the Cartegena Protocol on
Biosafety. The treaty would have allowed for refusal of imported GM crops on the
basis that it would endanger indigenous species (Charman, p.1). Although many
countries are still trying to pass this treaty the U.S.A. has long argued
otherwise. Whittling away at the obstacles to GM corn last year the FDA even
went so far as to warn organic manufacturers not to label their products. When
11 states in the U.S. introduced labeling laws, the Bush Administration rushed
through legislation forbidding the labeling of GM foods from other countries on
the basis that this would constitute unfair trade.
Under
pressure, more and more countries are opening up their markets to GM crops. This
March, India lifted a four-year ban on the planting of GM crops and Brazil
recommended authorization. However, Brazil’s Agide Meneguette, president of
the Farming Federation of Parana commented “Three quarters of our exports go
to countries that don’t accept GM. It is beginning to look foolish to switch
to GM crops. The U.S. bias towards corporations has fattened their coffers
whilst US farmers suffer as demand for U.S. corn dries-up (Lean, p.1, 2). This
is weighted by the fact that the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of GM
corn and other GM products.
The
debate over GM crops is even being fought in the arena of world hunger. This
year’s World Food Summit was to provide redemption by supporting the advances
of biotechnology as the solution to world hunger. USAID announced a
Collaborative Agricultural Biotechnology Initiative to assist the access of
developing countries to this technology. However, governments and groups in
Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe have been resisting U.S. food tainted
with GM DNA. Zimbabwe rejected 10,000 tons of food-aid in the form of whole corn
kernels that if used would spread and endanger local crops.
As
a result, USAID redirected the food-aid to Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia whilst
still trying to persuade the Zimbabwean government on the basis of humanitarian
aid. Bolivia found GM Starlink Cry96 protein present. This is despite the fact
that StarLink is banned from human consumption in Canada and the U.S. They also
found two Monsanto varieties RoundUp Ready and BtExtra not approved for human
consumption in the E.U. Guatemala found Liberty Link (Aventis), BtExtra and
RoundUp Ready in food aid (ENS #2, p.1, 2). In response, Japan made the
importing of corn products with any trace of Starlink a criminal offence last
year. They had found six out of 12 products had contained Cry9c (Kaufmann, p.1).
Rasulullah
said: “In selling it is not permitted to conceal faults to adulterated things,
nor to overrate or mislead, nor to conceal defects. It is not permitted to mix
the bad with the good, nor to conceal something about the goods which if known,
would make the buyer dislike it or which would reduce the price if concealment
was known (al-Tirmidhi 34 #5.a).
Two
years ago Britain, France and Italy prohibited the sale of GM foods unless they
were clearly labeled. The Members of the European Parliament in addition have
advocated the banning of shipments of conventional foods that may contain traces
of genetically engineered organisms not approved by the E.U. Currently the
rulings are undergoing its first reading in an attempt to harmonize tracking and
labeling throughout the E.U. (ENS #3, p.1). American environmental groups
have been asking for similar regulations in the U.S.A. (Kaufmann, p.8, 9).
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