Reclaiming Corn and Culture

by: Wendy Call, Yes! Magazine (Photo: Eduardo Verdugo / AP) Summer 2008 Issue For 14 years, NAFTA has displaced farmers and spurred migration. The answer from Mexico's grassroots: co-ops and fair trade. "The fatal date has arrived," announced one of Mexico's largest newspapers, El Universal, on New Year's Day 2008. The last trade barriers between Canada, Mexico, and the United States fell on January 1, completing the North American Free Trade Agreement's 14-year phase-in process. While this milestone passed with little comment in the United States, more than 100,000 teachers, college students, activists, farmers, and ranchers marched in Mexico City. The New Year's Day protesters demanded their government reopen negotiations on NAFTA. When that didn't happen, about twice as many took to the streets again on January 31, 2008.... [read full story]