This week and last, news outlets have mentioned the rising price of tortillas in Mexico. It seems humorous on the surface but tortillas are the staple food of Mexico's poor and the 14% increase in prices for the commodity in the past year, as compared to the country's 4% inflation, is significant for many. Tortillas have increased in price because the white corn from which they are made has similarly increased in value due in part to the increased demand for yellow corn that is used to make ethanol.
One of the authors of Freaknomics, Stephen Dubner, recently mentioned in his blog that these increase in corn prices stem from the high price of oil, which bolsters demand for ethanol. Anyone who has read The Omnivore's Dillema knows that corn is the basis for nearly all industrially produced food in the United States. Could Dubner be right that this oil prices could lead to less obese Americans through a convoluted chain of corn?
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