Ethanol Side Effects: Part 2

Mexican consumers and labor unions are protesting the rising cost of tortillas, which is mainly being blamed on the ethanol-driven price of U.S. corn. The tortilla is Mexico's staple food, the equivalent of our white bread.

In late January, tens of thousands of people gathered in the center of Mexico City, demanding lower tortilla prices. The price of a pound of tortillas has gone up more than 50% in spots, and a few shops have more than doubled what they had charged.

Last month, Mexican President Felipe Calderon signed an accord capping the price of tortillas at 8.5 pesos per kilogram, but the price control is not being enforced, wrote Sara Miller Llana in a recent issue of The Christian Science Monitor.

Politicians are calling for, among other things, a renegotiation of NAFTA that would drop tariffs on corn and beans, Llana reported.

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