This message is forwarded to you by the editors of the Chiapas95 newslists. To contact the editors or to submit material for posting send to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
From: "Dana Aldea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Universal,Rising maize prices threaten the traditional way of life in a Oaxaca village,Mar 12 Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:52:30 +0100 Corn market squeezes nation's poorest Rising maize prices threaten the traditional way of life in a Oaxaca village Wire services / El Universal Lunes 12 de marzo de 2007 SAN MATEO DE MACUILXO'CHITL, Oax. - With the price of corn soaring, this town's livelihood is at risk. Women who have sold tortillas for generations can no longer turn a profit, while their husbands and family members are leaving to try their luck in the United States. The community of Macuilxo'chitl, which means "five flowers" in Na'huatl, has 2,865 residents. For decades, roughly 1,000 of them have earned a living by making tortillas and selling them in the markets of Oaxaca City, the state capital. But in January, the price of tortillas spiked. Analysts have blamed a global increase in demand for corn to produce ethanol, an alternative motor fuel and gasoline additive. As a result, the cornflour used to make tortillas has become more expensive, and it's harder to sell the tortillas at higher prices. Mari'a de la Cruz Torres, known as Do~a Maricruz, has been making tortillas for 40 years. She said that this year the price of corn has risen more than she can ever remember. "It's 5 pesos per kilo - and 4.25 pesos at least for white corn," she said. "There's no more profit; it's barely enough (to pay) for what we're going to eat tomorrow." Every day, Do~a Maricruz and her daughters have to prepare 44 pounds of corn to make 200 tortillas. They depend on the proceeds to buy food to eat the following day. In a town where many are impoverished even in the best of times, the rise in cornflour prices has convinced many to undertake the long, perilous trek to the United States as illegal immigrants. "We don't think we're going to make tortillas to eat anymore, be cause there's no profit in selling them," said Paulina, a tortilla maker whose daughter-in-law left months ago to work as a maid in the United States. In Macuilxo'chitl, as in much of Mexico, the tortillas are made by hand with white corn. These regional variations of the nation staple are known as "tlayudas" and measure up to nearly 12 inches in diameter and are baked and toasted in mud stoves. "I started making tlayudas in 1952 at 12 years old, and with the (profit) I made, I sent my seven children to school - but I could only pay for elementary school," Do~a Maricruz said. DOUBLE WHAMMY According to the family, it is not just the price of corn that has made their lives difficult, but rising prices across the board. Her daughter Rufina Torres said that this year they have been "ruined ... (because the prices of) corn rose, flour rose, firewood rose and even car fare." "I think it'd be better if we worked as employees in a house. There, we'd eat every day (in ex change for) washing dishes and clothes," she said. Though corn is grown in the area, years of falling prices have resulted as subsidized surplus corn has been imported from the United States. This forced many local men to abandon their fields and head north of the Ri'o Grande to find work. So the community's losses from the price surge are not balanced by corresponding gains from growing the grain. With the jump in corn prices, it now costs double what it used to cost to turn it into flour, and every day they burn 100 pesos (US$9.08) of wood to cook the tlayudas - in addition to the 18 pesos passengers are charged to travel in a truck to Oaxaca city 30 minutes away to bring the tortillas to market. Once there, the women face customers who constantly haggle over the price. "If we make them more expensive, they won't buy them," said Rufina. "Since they don't make tortillas, they don't know how much it costs." DAILY GRIND Rufina gave EFE a summary of her workday: At 4 a.m., her sister goes to the mill to get in line to grind the corn. An hour later, she returns home to stoke the fire in the stove, the interior of which is coated with lime so the tortillas won't stick. The flour is ground and mixed for four hours. A bit of water is added periodically to the meal to keep its consistency soft so the tortillas do not tear or break apart. Afterwards the meal is rolled and cut into large thin circles. Then they are put into the stove, where they are cooked for several minutes and turned from time to time. Later the finished product is placed in a basket made of palm leaves. The tortilla-makers head to the city to sell their wares. When they return home it's time to prepare for the same routine the next day. http://www.mexiconews.com.mx/miami/23758.html -- To unsubscribe from this list send a message containing the words unsubscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists.
