TILANTONGO, Program 14: The Climate Crisis in the Campo, the Response of Young Campesino Farmers, with Eduardo Leon Zarate

In Tilantongo – Conversations from Indigenous Mexico; Conversaciones desde el México indigena, Phil and Kathy Dahl-Bredine bring perspectives and insights from Oaxaca, where they have lived with and learned from indigenous Mixtec people since 2001. This bilingual program features interviews with villagers, educators, environmental advocates, historians, and more.

We hear of the disasters that changes in the climate are creating in urban areas of the North, but little about how this affects small farmers and youth in the countryside around the world. Young campesino farmer and activist Eduardo (Lalo) Leon Zarate explains how changes in the climate have changed the way small farmers must learn to plant. He explains how both climate changes and international trade agreements which are being used to force Mexico, the place of origin of corn, to accept genetically modified corn, put at risk the health of Mexicans and the rich heritage of Mexican native seeds on which the world depends.