1. Mexico's poor suffer as food speculation fuels tortilla crisis.
- Author
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Levitt, Tom
- Subjects
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CORN prices , *COMMODITY futures , *SPECULATION , *POOR people , *TORTILLAS , *CORN products , *CONSUMPTION (Economics) , *CORN yields , *CORN as feed , *FOOD security , *INTERNATIONAL markets , *NUTRITION - Abstract
The article discusses the effect of financial speculation on corn futures in the international commodity market on the rising prices of corn products in Mexico. It is noted that the price increases are particularly felt by poor Mexicans who rely on corn tortillas as a staple of their diet and to whom corn has strong cultural value. The rise in corn prices has also been attributed to crop yield losses due to the changing climate, the use of corn as feed for livestock, and the demand of the crop for biofuels production. It is argued that food commodities trading destabilises food prices in favor of short-term profits and will lead to nutritional crises in poor populations.
- Published
- 2011