The Politics of Produce · Episode 2 of 17 · 21 min
The Sacred Grain: Corn, Sovereignty, and the Border
Maize runs from the sacred crop of the Aztec and Maya through the subsidized U.S. Corn Belt to NAFTA's flood of cheap American corn. It ends with the 2024 USMCA panel ruling for the United States and Mexico's 2025 constitutional ban on planting genetically modified corn. The fight pits maize sovereignty against seed monopoly, with GM safety left contested.
Who's who
- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador+1 more episodeMexican president who issued the 2020 and 2023 GM corn decrees
- Claudia Sheinbaum+3 more episodesMexican president who signed the 2025 constitutional amendment
- Katherine TaiU.S. Trade Representative who brought the USMCA case
- Tom Vilsack+1 more episodeU.S. Agriculture Secretary in the USMCA dispute
- Doug McKalipchief U.S. agricultural negotiator in the dispute
Where it happens
- Balsas River valley, Mexicowhere maize was domesticated from teosinte
- Corn Belt, United Statescenter of subsidized industrial corn production
- Mexico+10 more episodeslargest single buyer of U.S. corn
Timeline
- c. 7000 BCEfarmers in the Balsas valley begin domesticating maize
- January 1, 1994NAFTA takes effect and U.S. corn floods Mexico
- February 2023revised decree bans GM corn in dough and tortillas
- December 20, 2024USMCA panel rules for the United States
- March 17, 2025Mexico publishes a constitutional ban on planting GM corn
Still debated
How much of Mexican rural displacement and migration came from NAFTA corn cannot be cleanly separated from the peso crisis, wage gaps, and violence. The safety of GM corn is also genuinely contested.
← PreviousFirst, They Taxed the Tea: How Consumption Became PowerNext →Money on the Tree: Cacao, Tribute, and Empire
Connected episodes in other series
Mexico: Ejidos and the Justice PlansThe Land Returns · Episode 4Also features Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Claudia Sheinbaum
Paper Rights, Real Power: How the South Passed the NorthA Woman's Place · Episode 10Also features Claudia Sheinbaum
Why Mexico Ranks Happier Than the United StatesHappiness in the World · Episode 1