MEXICO

ARTIST: Randall Robbins
COUNTRY: Mexico
FLAG COLORS; Green, White, Red
ARTIST’S COMENTS: The development of the corn plant (Zea Mays) is Mexico’s greatest contribution to the modern world. Maize was hybridized from native grasses in the Balsas River valley of southern Mexico approximately 10,000 years ago. Its cultivation spread in separate waves across the American southwest and into Canada and then south to Central and South America as pre-Columbian people learned of its nutritive value. Because the kernels are wrapped in a husk, all corn varieties require human manipulation to bring about a new generation of plants. The symbiosis of corn and human has led to a myriad of varieties with multiple uses from human food to ethanol. Worldwide, more corn is produced in greater abundance than any other cereal grain. My fence post is a salute to this wonderful agricultural commodity whose origins in New World Mexico allowed agrarian societies on all continents to flourish.