Mexico Banning GMO Corn Impacts the Tarahumara Tribe

This week, news was released that Mexico has banned genetically-modified corn. This decision will not only impact the world, it will also hugely impact the Tarahumara tribe. Corn or “maize” is the heart or "life-force" of Mexico; a staple food of their diet, history, and culture. There are over 20,000 varieties of corn in Mexico and Central America. The Tarahumara’s ability to survive in isolation has been majorly dependent on their ability to plant and save their own heirloom seeds. The threat of GMO corn entering Mexico would have threatened this indigenous tribes livelihood. 

Although this is a huge victory for Mexico, we hope to see more countries following in their steps, including the United States. The best solution to preserving seed diversity is stopping the production of genetically modified crops throughout the world. Perhaps this seems impossible, but actions like Mexico is taking give us great hope for the future. 

Three weeks ago, we had the privilege of planting a Tarahumara corn variety as a part of a demonstration garden for our upcoming documentary, Goshen. You can view the growth progress of this organic garden here: www.goshenfilm.com/garden

This week, we also began editing a sequence in Goshen featuring a Tarahumara woman grinding and hand making tortillas from her families corn. Goshen will share this culinary tradition and will also teach you how to preserve heirloom seeds from your own garden. If you would like to support the production of this documentary, you can make a tax-deductible donation here: www.goshenfilm.com/donate 

If you would like to purchase Tarahumara seed, we recommend the collection of Native Seed Search. 

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