Devon Peña
On July 25, the Government of Costa Rica decreed that
corn is the heart of the nation’s cultural heritage. This includes its
gastronomic heritage and cultural expressions that have grown along with the
planting, harvesting and consumption of this vital grain.
“To avoid any doubt, we are declaring that this
extraordinary grain – which gave rise to most luminous civilizations of
Mesoamerica – is also recognized as the central and matrix force of Costa Rican
nationality,” the president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, asserted
during a speech marking the announcement of the declaration. TO CONTINUE READING, SCROLL DOWN OR USE THIS
LINK: http://bit.ly/1rSeAI3
--
Devon G. Peña, Ph.D.
"Memory is a moral obligation, all the time."
-J. Derrida
Maize Culture | Costa Rican Government Decrees Corn as
Cultural Heritage <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/2014/07/maize-culture-costa-rican-government.html>
<http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7322220305190081041&postID=3392042516026764484&from=pencil>
de origen.*
Source: Radio Luzmar
*Declaration includes traditions, agriculture, customs,
ideas, flavors and
colors*
TRANSGENIC PLANTINGS ARE UNRESOLVED THREAT
Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | July 28, 2014
We are all familiar with the idea that many ethnic and
indigenous communities self-identify as “corn cultures” in the Americas. The
most familiar case is that of Mexico since ancient civilizations proclaimed
themselves to have arisen from maize. Indeed, the Mayan creation stories <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_maize_god>
include the poetic account of how first woman and man are molded from white and
yellow corn plants. One eloquent proponent of the concept of Mexico as a corn
culture is Roberto Rodriguez whose doctoral studies focused on Centeotzintli,
the traditional environmental knowledge and ritual practices associated with
maize as a sacred plant. Lauren Baker – in a fabulous new book, *Corn Meets
Maize
–
is another scholar who observes that in indigenous
communities, the cultivated fields of maize constitute a space where nature and
culture, policy and practice intersect.
Now we have the first case where a nation has officially
declared itself to be a corn-based civilization and culture. On July 25, the
Government of Costa Rica decreed that corn is the heart of the nation’s
cultural heritage. This includes its gastronomic heritage and cultural
expressions that have grown along with the planting, harvesting and consumption
of this vital grain.
“To avoid any doubt, we are declaring that this
extraordinary grain – which gave rise to most luminous civilizations of
Mesoamerica – is also recognized as the central and matrix force of Costa Rican
nationality,” the president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, asserted during
a speech marking the announcement of the declaration.
The heart of “corn country” in Costa Rica is the
bioregion of Guanacaste and the president was touring the area as part of
activities for the celebration of the 190th anniversary of the Annexation of
Nicoya. [*Moderator’s
Note:* Nicoya, est. in 1554, marked the existence of the
distinct territory of Costa Rica as separate from Nicaragua.]
The official announcement emphasizes the recognition of
the many traditions, agricultural practices, customs, knowledge, tastes, and
colors associated with the cultivation, preparation, and consumption of the
multitude of locally adapted land race varieties of corn. The entire Central
American bioregion is considered an essential part of the Mesoamerican center
of origin for *Zea mays*.
The government explains the significance of the
declaration:
In Costa Rica, especially in Guanacaste, there is a rich
and varied cuisine based on the use of corn, and in addition there are many
traditions, social practices, knowledge and cultural expressions that deserve
to be preserved for the benefit of farming communities and the collective norms
and cultural identity of the country.
Elizabeth Fonseca, Minister of Culture and Youth,
emphasized the importance of the declaration as a mandate to direct support and
“more resources to projects in pursuit of the development and conservation of
the traditions that are based on corn.”
The Costa Rican government’s declaration that the nation
is essentially a corn culture is a significant triumph of the indigenous
worldview against the imperatives [and crops] of former and aspiring colonial
empires.
However, much of the actual work of conservation and
protection remains to be done and a major remaining challenge will be
addressing the continued presence of small but troubling plantings of GM (genetically
modified) corn inside Costa Rica.
According to a largely overlooked report from January 23,
2013 <http://thecostaricanews.com/fighting-transgenic-corn-in-costa-rica-continues-despite-endorsement/14543>,
environmentalists in Costa Rica rigorously protested the
planting of GMO corn a day after the National Biosafety Commission approved two
hectares for Monsanto. According to the Commission’s records, D & PL Seeds
Ltd, a Monsanto subsidiary, was the recipient of the permit approving company
plantings on two hectares in Abangares, a northwestern province of Guanacaste.
The Commission continues to insist that these permits
involve cultivation for research; the results will not produce corn for human
consumption or marketing. However, this clarification still violates the spirit
of the more recent “Corn Culture Declaration” since Costa Rica is an
established center of origin for maize. Thus, the planting of any GMO corn is a
certain threat through the existence of inadvertent gene flows, potentially resulting
in the contamination of land race varieties with serious cultural, ecological,
and economic consequences.
It will be interesting to see if the environmental groups
including the “Green Block” will be able to apply pressure on the biosafety
commissioners based on this new national declaration, given that they are
believed to have exhausted legal avenues to prevent the planting of genetically
modified corn.
Given the success of the Green Block movement – an
initiative of universities, environmentalists, and farmers – the question now
is if the declaration of the Ministry of Culture that corn is Costa Rica’s
cultural heritage, will survive legal challenges by Monsanto and their
neoliberal allies who will continue to push for the approval of GM corn plantings.
The Green Block movement is active at the local and municipal levels and many
farming communities have already declared themselves to be GMO-free, accounting
for approximately 20 percent of the territory of Costa Rica, most in the
province of Guanacaste.
Posted 1 minute ago by Devon G. Peña
Labels: Center of Origin
<http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Center%20of%20Origin>
Corn <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Corn>
corn culture <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/corn%20culture>
Costa Rica <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Costa%20Rica>
cultural heritage <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/cultural%20heritage>
GMO corn <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/GMO%20corn>
maize <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/maize>
transgenic corn <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/transgenic%20corn>
Zea mays <http://ejfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Zea%20mays>
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