There is one possibility of extinction of corn. Journalist Dan Saladino documented his experience in different countries in the book “Eating to Extinction”. Among the foods listed by him is corn from the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Seed variety is necessary to avoid the extinction of maize – and other foods
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After numerous trips around the world, Dan Saladino has documented his entire journey, which began in 2007. He works for the BBC and reports on food. Since being hired, he has traveled to different countries and cultures in order to identify unique ingredients around the world.
In the midst of these adventures, the journalist listed some foods likely to suffer extinction along with the communities that cultivate them. Among them, the corn.
In the book, Saladino explains that there is an intimate relationship between humanity and the practice of growing food. Over the years, this technique has undergone modifications and improvements with regard to production systems, such as irrigation, use of chemical products and
fertilizers.However, over time, homogeneous systems were associated with increased greenhouse effect by greater emission of polluting gases.
food diversity
On this the professional commented:
“I think we need to be more humble and recognize that science and technology work on one level, but they have also created a lot of problems. And a first argument for saving diversity is that perhaps, in the future, many solutions can be found in the genetic diversity of foods cultivated thousands of years ago.”
The researcher concluded that food diversity has been decreasing over the years, mainly due to the genetic similarities between the seeds. One of the examples mentioned by him is the corn produced in Oaxaca, Mexico. For him, the cultivation of this grain without ideal conditions or the use of fertilizers is what reinforces the importance of cultural diversity for food security.