Editor,
As some may know, October has been declared Local Food Month. Of course, this means nothing without events to inform and involve the public about the importance of not only local food, but also the bettering of our entire food system. Thus, October seems the appropriate month to announce the beginning of UNM Fair Trade Initiative and Save New Mexico Seeds’ campaign to keep New Mexico’s chile pure and stop genetically engineered chile.
The genetically engineered chile pepper, which is being produced by New Mexico State University and funded by the New Mexico Chile Association, is scheduled to come into the market some time in the next year. Our campaign hopes to stop this action by shutting down the market for the genetically engineered chile in New Mexico through asking local businesses not to purchase the chile when it is released.
Although there are many arguments against the genetic modification or engineering of any crop, it seems the most straight-forward one, for this situation, would be that to New Mexicans the chile is a thing of pride and tradition, and with the genetically modified chile pepper comes a great threat to this most beloved food.
To officially begin this campaign, these two groups will be holding an event on Saturday, Oct. 29th at 4 p.m. in Woodward Hall. This will be a lecture with such prominent speakers as Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist and author who has written a number of books about biodiversity and bioethics; Percy Schmeiser, a canola farmer and seed breeder who has, for years, fought Monsanto over contamination of his crops; and Dan Ravicher, a lawyer who has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto on behalf of organizations such as the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association.
This issue is one that affects all New Mexicans, and I hope that together we can keep our chile pure.
Will Thomson
UNM student
