Tortillas
entonces
sat 2/3/2007
Many people, including scientists and some big companies believe that we are running out of oil. What oil there is, is located mostly in very hostile environments. One possible alternative to oil is ethanol. Lately, there has been a high demand for ethanol. Even U.S. President George W. Bush said "We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol…" Ethanol is primarily made out of corn. The more demand there is for ethanol, the more expensive corn becomes. But ethanol is not the only product made out of corn. So are corn tortillas. Over the last six months, the price of corn meal for tortillas in Mexico has doubled. Most Mexicans rely on corn tortillas to keep from going hungry. Entonces: many Mexican families are now worried about going hungry because we may be running out of oil.
Images via Flickr by mattdente, swanksalot, Fábio Pinheiro, Omar Omar, Tjeerd, madpai, Señor Codo, presta, Amor Ministries and carlosfpardo.
Updates: At blog.wired.com, commenter Jon P points to the role played by Mexican trade policy, a factor also cited by The Dallas Morning News. But in a recent story on NAFTA, the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that "allowing corn imports is politically risky" in Mexico. See comments below for additional links and extended discussion.
piNKy_aCeS Says:
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CargillSucks
2/8/2007
That's the dumbest comparison if have yet seen. Idiots. Yes, renewable resources like corn and what the f**k not are great for energy. No, a certain price spike does not mean your f***ing tortilla gets more expensive. Employ some basic economics idiots! The trade volume would _not_ offset your silly little out of country things when concerning in country demainds and prices - for quite a while.
johna
2/8/2007
High corn prices are wreaking havoc on Mexico's inflation rate and forcing shoppers to pay more for eggs, milk and tortillas. But they're a godsend to farmers such as Victor Manuel Amador Luna.
With world corn prices riding high on strong demand from U.S. ethanol producers, Amador is looking to expand production on his farm about 125 miles east of Mexico City in the state of Puebla. He planted most of his 222 acres with corn this year and is looking to buy more land.
''I've never seen prices this high in my lifetime,'' said Amador, 79, his smile wide, like the crack in the dusty windshield of his Chevy pickup.
How long the bonanza will last is anyone's guess. What's clear is that America's thirst for corn-based ethanol is being felt around the globe, delivering fatter profits for grain farmers but higher costs for livestock producers, food processors and consumers.
"In Mexico, corn becomes a hot commodity: As world corn prices soar on demand from ethanol producers, Mexican farmers plant more." – Los Angeles Times.
holamun2.com
2/8/2007
johna: you are the big a** f*****g i-know-it-all idiot!!! if you are so wise on "basic economics" explain what happens to a country's economy when you steal a basic product from it (such as corn from mexico) And YES, a world demand may kill a country. Answer this you stupid idiot! You sell lemonade to your little friends at $0.50 cents a glass, and a guy from the county next to yours comes and offers you $0.75 cents or what's worse $0.51 cents WHO WOULD YOU SELL IT TO???? AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS' THIRST??? That is Basic Economics, IDIOT!!!!
manny
2/8/2007
I wonder if you've read Kunstler's recent blog entries on alternative fuels.
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary20.html (deep link, sorry mr K)
He is the author of "A long emergency" - on the slowly descending availability of the fuels that we're dependent on and the society we've come to know.
He argues that ethanol or gas or whatever makes no difference - it's merely a way to shift your desire to drive to a new problematic fuel, still requiring huge costs as seen here. What we need to do as a culture/civilisation/whatever is to reduce our desires, or better, to struggle through with each desire, balanced with a sense of responsibility for our lives, to turn it into wisdom.
Kunstler recommends practical ways of changing the way we live so as not to need cars anymore. I think a radical change in the heart or just mindset of each person will be needed - the idea that it is NOT better to have more than our grandparents did, if it takes away from what our grandchildren will have. I hope it doesn't take too many more catastrophes for people to see how much to take this on to avoid further damage.
ale fernandez
2/8/2007
Hi,
I think you look at it the wrong way. Right now there is an unbelievable amount of money going to oil producing countires in exchange for crude. Since oil is a natural resource mostly in state control, the money that first world countries pay goes exclusively to the local governments. Instead of fostering developement, it is the source of all kind of problems like uneven, unsustainable developement. The biggest problem is probably authoritarian regimes, because if a country would democratize, a larger portion of the oil revenue would have to be distributed among a larger share of the population.
Agricultural commodity production on the other hand is a decentralized business with little or no entry barrier for private people. Having all the money that now flows into oil production flowing into expanded corn production would result in a very different, and better world on the macro scale.
As far as the price level goes. Should there really be a "hunger problem" in Mexico, providing low cost basic food is not that difficult for a country like Mexico given expansion and trade possibilities in alternative commodities.
Jose Borges
2/8/2007
Corn is not likely to be a primary crop for ethanol production; it would require too much water and too much corn to produce enough ethanol to significantly contribute to our fuel needs in the US. Perhaps a more likely scenario is that crops like switch grass will be genetically modified to produce a higher yield product along with bio-engineered microbial digesters, together producing a larger ethanol yield while requiring less water and energy to produce.
Perhaps if the US ended its exploitation of Mexico's poor by disallowing illegal workers, Mexico would be forced (by revolution or democratic reform) to deal with its own corrupt, oligarchic, unbalanced economy. It s a sad situation and I hate to think of the human suffering involved, but it seems to me that the more dispossed and hungry citizens that Mexico is forced to deal with, the greater the pressure on the Mexican Government to implement significant progressive change. Meanwhile, the US needs to deal with its own corrupt, oligarchic, unbalanced economy as well, or risk creating the same kind of disparities that Mexico suffers.
In anycase, if the global demand for corn tortillas or ethanol is high enough, the global econmomy should meet the demand eventually, and provide alternatives in the meantime...
hazeywolf
2/8/2007
The sad truth about fossil fuel is that it not only provides fuel, but many, many more things. Lubricant, fertilizer, electrical wire insulation, clothes, and all other plastics around you are from fossil fuel.
There isn’t enough corn in the world to produce what the US alone needs in fuel. The stark reality is that whoever controls the oil reserves of the world controls the future of mankind.
Nabil Alhamid
2/8/2007
The choice is not between corn and oil. Corn is one of the worst ways to get ethanol! Try sugarcane instead and you will have no tortilla effect.
The main reason why the US is using corn for that is subsides to corn production and protectionism.
leo
2/8/2007
its funny when they show that the mexicans are afraid of running out of food when almost every single one of them look overweight and diabetic.
jeff
2/8/2007
(39 total)
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