Free Trade Isn't Free: Implications for Food Security, A Case Study on Mexican Maize
Faculty Mentor
Majid Sharifi
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
5-7-2024 9:55 AM
End Date
5-7-2024 10:15 AM
Location
PAT 340
Primary Discipline of Presentation
International Affairs
Abstract
This research analyzes the importance of the food crop maize to food security and how its genetic diversity is crucial to maintaining a future supply of maize. This essay describes the role of NAFTA in commercializing agriculture in Mexico and how this shift caused an increase in genetically modified seeds and a decrease in landrace farmers. Consequently, the introduction of NAFTA encouraged commercialized agriculture, causing many Mexican maize farmers to decrease cultivation of landraces. This threatens future food security, as diverse landraces of maize are necessary for crop sustainability.
Recommended Citation
Meek, Michaela, "Free Trade Isn't Free: Implications for Food Security, A Case Study on Mexican Maize" (2024). 2024 Symposium. 3.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2024/op_2024/o5_2024/3
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Free Trade Isn't Free: Implications for Food Security, A Case Study on Mexican Maize
PAT 340
This research analyzes the importance of the food crop maize to food security and how its genetic diversity is crucial to maintaining a future supply of maize. This essay describes the role of NAFTA in commercializing agriculture in Mexico and how this shift caused an increase in genetically modified seeds and a decrease in landrace farmers. Consequently, the introduction of NAFTA encouraged commercialized agriculture, causing many Mexican maize farmers to decrease cultivation of landraces. This threatens future food security, as diverse landraces of maize are necessary for crop sustainability.
