[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by habernac

Excellent post, cowboy. How much fun is it to be Mexican right now where their staple, corn, has tripled in price because of the whole ethanol debacle? Everyone's food is going up as a result.

Orrrrr...Not.

The removal of tariffs, quotas and direct supports was accelerated with the signing of NAFTA and the opening of Mexico to international markets, says Carlsen. From 1994 to 2002, US exports of maize to Mexico nearly tripled, from 2.2 million tonnes annually to 6 million tonnes. Mexico also became the second-largest export market for US maize, accounting for 11 percent of all exports in 2000, or about US$550 million worth.

The effects in rural Mexico have been pronounced. As many of the larger farmers shifted from maize to other crops, smaller, poorer farmers actually increased the cultivated land under maize to offset their decreasing income and feed their families. The unfortunate irony is that these smaller farmers lost even more money on corn every year, and fell deeper into poverty.

http://www.cec.org/trio/stories/inde...h&ed=12&ID=143

NAFTA is a real bugger.