The entrance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 has provoked the widespread economic displacement of local farming communities and the genetic erosion of corn resulting from the "dumping" or sale of corn under the price of production. Corporate control basic grains, patented seeds and chemical inputs like fertilizers is undermining food sovereignty and threatening biodiversity. In Mexico, the hardest hit are indigenous campesinos or farmers who account for the vast majority of Mexican corn producers. Although the source of contamination of native Mexican corn varieties is unknown, most evidence leads to the some 6 million tons of corn exported each year to Mexico from the United States. 35-40% of the corn planted in the United States is Genetically Engineered.

In response to the news of contamination rural and urban activists throughout the Americas will called on grain exporters, the biotech industry, and the US and Canadian governments to stop dumping untested and unlabeled genetically engineered corn on Mexico and other nations, where irreplaceable corn varieties are being damaged by "genetic pollution."

Campaign activists also demanded that corporations and governments heed the concerns of consumers, North and South, and remove genetically engineered corn and other foods and crops from the market, unless they can be proven to be safe for human health and the environment. Recently hundreds of US consumers have reported allergic reactions to the FDA after eating Kraft and other brand name products likely containing genetically engineered corn. In Mexico researchers have detected widespread contamination of traditional varieties of corn, caused by surreptitious imports of genetically engineered corn into Mexico by grain export giants such as Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill.