Bad Wrap: How ADM cashes in on Mexico's tortilla woes

yeah, NAFTA has just brought sunshine and rainbows to everyone. everyone of the haves and have mores that is.
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Bad Wrap:How Archer Daniels Midland cashes in on Mexico's tortilla woes
By Tom Philpott
22 Feb 2007
Much has been made in the U.S. press about Mexico's "tortilla crisis" -- the recent spike in the price of its definitive corn-based flatbread.

Media reports tend to focus blame on U.S. ethanol production, which has surged over the past year, causing the global price of corn to double. The situation stoked the food vs. fuel debate, showing that even marginally offsetting gasoline with corn-based ethanol can have dire consequences for eaters -- especially ones on a budget.

Traditionally made tortillas are a masa-have commodity in Mexico.
Photo: Dayna Bateman
But while our ravenous -- and dubious -- appetite for turning corn into fuel has certainly played a role in the crisis, it's by no means our nation's only involvement in Mexico's tortilla nightmare.

Indeed, the same company responsible for rigging up the U.S. corn-based ethanol market is also profiting handsomely from soaring tortilla prices. Archer Daniels Midland, the leading U.S. ethanol maker and the world's biggest grain buyer, owns a 27 percent stake in Gruma, Mexico's dominant tortilla maker. ADM also owns a 40 percent share in a joint venture with Gruma to mill and refine wheat -- meaning that when Mexican consumers are forced by high tortilla prices to switch to white bread, Gruma and ADM still win.
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complete article including links to other sources here

Seems the market has changed. It will be more profitable to burn all of the corn and feed the mexicans white bread.