OCA and our allies have campaigned for years against GMOs, toxic pesticides, and so-called “Free Trade” agreements such as the 1994 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and WTO (World Trade Organization) treaties and regulations. These trade agreements put the profits of multinational corporate agribusiness and the GMO/agrotoxics complex ahead of the needs of family farmers and ranchers, while undermining public health, the environment, and climate stability.
In Mexico our sister organizations such as Via Organica and networks such as Sin Maiz no hay Pais (“without corn there is no country”), and the Real Tortilla Project have achieved notable successes through litigation and grassroots lobbying, with federal courts banning the commercial planting of GMO corn and soybeans, and the Mexico City government announcing a phase-out of Monsanto/Bayer’s Roundup/glyphosate and the importation of millions of tons of GMO corn as livestock feed. In addition, Mexico has signed the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the “4 for 1000” Soils for Climate and People agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to sequester excess atmospheric CO2 through regenerative farm and land-use practices. The federal government recently announced that agroecology is now the official national organizing principle for agriculture and food policies.
While we are pleased to see the Mexico government (led by President Lopez Obrador and the MORENA Party-the Movement for National Regeneration) make these announcements, and will work overtime for similar policy changes in the U.S. and internationally, the time has come to move from promises and rhetoric to action.