Tortilla Facts

Wall Street Journal, 1/29/07, page A16 (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED TO ACCESS LINK) ^ | 1/29/07 | MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY

[HP8753]

They could grow potatoes and make Lefse.
Dry it out a little and nobody would know the diference. ,-)

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I would proudly eat tortillas that some hot Mexican twentysomething woman slapped between her gorgeous thighs.

[HP8753]

Lefse

[StJacques]

In normal terms, assuming that demand for corn stays constant within a population as disposable income rises, you are correct because increasing disposable income always raises prices. But one of the points about raising the disposable income of the Mexican poor that has been made, and I think this was in another thread, is that as the disposable income of a Mexican family rises, so does the variety of food in their diet. The poorest families in Mexico rely upon corn and beans for over 70% of their dietary needs. As they move up the social ladder that percentage drops significantly as they get increasing amounts of protein from meat. So the demand for corn by a Mexican family at the lowest end of the social ladder is much higher than that of a Mexican family within the middle class which, if I remember correctly (and I might not) is about 35% of all dietary needs. I seem to remember reading that it is cut in half.

But with all that having been said, due to the irrepressible upward pressure on prices that comes with higher incomes, increases for prices elsewhere could still be expected, so your rejoinder was still valid.

[Sherman Logan]

Mexico no longer has an exploding population. Not surprising with about half of their young men in this country.

[investigateworld]

I don't think much if any of the increased revenue from the higher oil prices has reached the 'masses', even thought Pemex is supposed to benefit them ;^)

For the record, if I'd been born there, I too would run for the border.
Mecico should be very rich. Friends of mine in the mining biz say there are gold and silver and copper ore deposits there that would pay, even using American wage scales, but too many 'bites'...

[StJacques]

". . . but too many bites."

Yes; La Mordida is still a fact of Mexican life and, if you really want to see an informed perspective on it you might enjoy the Mark in Mexico Blog. He had a great piece up on taxi licensing that was both outrageous and disheartening just a couple of days ago.

And there is no question that the "masses" of Mexico did not benefit from the recent oil price surge at the hands of Pemex, which is a basket case and in need of major slashing and overhauling, though Mexico did retire about 20% of its foreign debt, which will benefit everyone there eventually.

[SAJ]

OK. I sit corrected as to population growth

But not, however, about Mexico's -- in broad -- primitive agriculture nationwide.

The original subject in the thread was corn, hence tortillas. I didn't even address the welfare-state mentality.

[SAJ]

Second-year chemistry: you will always get more BTUs from 7 carbon atoms than from 2. And you won't get squat, in terms of increased energy yields, from H₂.

C'mon, brutha, I don' need no ''Aaa-men'' here, I just need a ''DUH!''

[Clemenza]

I can't comment on the agricultural practices in Mexico, as I know little about agronomy not related to grapes. I did see old school microagriculture (as in tiny plots of land) when I visited the Indian villages in Chiapas a few years back.

[SAJ]

Love your tagline, btw.

[investigateworld]

Interesting blog, I ddn't know that about Crest toothpaste.

[Grizzled Bear]

Are you the keeper of the tortilla ping list?

If so may I sign up?

Before I do; is it a high volume ping list?

;-)

[linn37]

no, I hereby nominate you to be keeper of the list.

[Fiddlstix]

Good graphic. Well done.

[tcrlaf]

bump for later

[StJacques]

"Interesting blog, I ddn't know that about Crest toothpaste."

Neither did I till I read that entry. I do know that other important consumer products were developed at universities and I almost sent him an e-mail to remind him that Gatorade was first developed at the University of Florida.

Back during the Oaxacan crisis of last year, when the APPO leftists virtually took over the state, the Mark in Mexico blog was perhaps the very best source of eyewitness information coming out of Oaxaca. Their own A Diario newspaper was openly threatened by APPO and couldn't print everything it saw, the Mexican newspapers in Mexico City did get a good bit of information out, but it did not usually come from their own on the scene reporters, and the international media was too captivated by the Otro Periodismo of IndyMedia and Narco News to examine openly what was happening on the ground. Mark's blog had the most fascinating detail, pics, and timeliness of any source on the web. And his personal observations are the very best part on top of all of that.

[backbencher]

[Tortilla fact,corn is better!]

Corn tortilla's taste bad. Flour is best.

[StJacques]

"Corn tortilla's taste bad. Flour is best."

No Way! Corn tortillas made from masa harina, as opposed to the processed corn tortillas used for commercial operations, are the very best.

[Dajjal]

bump