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Photo courtesy of  David Kamm Photoworks . GMO contamination of masa harina consumer products EATING BIOFUEL CORN IN YOUR NEXT TORTILLA? – A CALL TO ACTION! Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | April 14, 2017 In September 2000, Kraft, Inc. had to recall taco shells after admitting that they contained a genetically engineered corn that was not approved for human consumption. The case was a serious breach of biosafety and posed a significant health risk for persons with allergies to the proteins produced by the transgenic corn mistakenly added to the processed flour destined for the tortilla shells (see the original New York Times report). Now, we have a new incident involving the likely contamination of masa harina (cornmeal flour) by transgenic corn in what is supposed to be a GMO-free product used to make tamales and tortillas. According to a report posted to the Huffington Post , the transgenic corn (Enogen) may have been behind a mysterious incident in California involving bad masa ha...

Indigenous Corn Farmers Issue Declaration at 13 th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancún, Mexico NATIVE GROWERS EXPOUND PRINCIPLES TO PROTECT THE SACRED IN CORN Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | January 3, 2017 The world’s indigenous corn growers gathered together in the Mayan village of Ek Balam this past December 1-3 (2016) for a spiritual and political retreat to address the threats posed to native maize. The group of native corn farmers addressed a wide set of threats ranging from dispossession of farmers from their ancestral lands, the decline of corn culture among younger generations, and the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) crops that can damage the genetic integrity of land races and damage ecosystems and wildlife including vital pollinators.   Corn spiral. The gathering centered around this spiral consisting of all the varieties of native corn brought to the meeting by all 54 participants. Photo by Devon G. Peña. The participants included native c...