"What is the Government Doing to Make Us Self-Sufficient?"

...So asks a teacher and resident in Oaxaca State, Mexico, "after a decade of free trade that has all but depopulated the Mexican countryside." This is the question that every town, every city, and even every neighborhood around the world should be constantly asking. In "Science vs. Culture in Mexico's Corn Staple" (NY Times, March 27, 2005), Elisabeth Malkin describes the destructive effect of bioengeneered corn on the residents of Oaxaca, the birthplace of maize.

A panel of international experts found that the risks to health, the environment, and biodiversity from genetically modified corn were so far very limited. But after a public forum here in Oaxaca State, the panel gave special weight to social and cultural arguments about protecting corn. It recommended that Mexico reduce corn imports, clearly label transgenic corn, and mill genetically modified corn as soon as it enters the country, to prevent farmers from planting it.

But the U.S. opposes any restrictions or even labeling for the corn. It is another classic case of American arrogance dictating the rules of the game - everyone has to accept our corn without restrictions, but we'll tariff the hell out of your steel or cattle because that "protects American jobs." Free trade is great, as long as you only trade freely when it's convenient for you.

"There is a systematic strategy to finish off the countryside," said Aldo Gonzalez, an advocate on farm issues from the town of Guelatao. Scientists have echoed those concerns, saying that the threat to the crop and to the rural population cannot be separated. "The most important cause of the loss of genetic diversity to the maize varieties is the loss of people, their departure from the countryside for California, New York, and Texas," said Jose Sarukhan, a respected professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who led the panel.

What is our government doing to make us self-sufficient? Other than, you know, increasing our dependence on foreign bankers, the Chinese economy, and transnational corporations.