Once again, apologies for the lengthy intermission between posts here at Stuffed and Starved. I’ve been working my next book, which has taken a little more time and travel than I’d have liked. But the results will, I think, be worth it. My most recent research trip involved going to visit the Zapatistas in Chiapas, which means that your intrepid writer has recently returned from Mexico. There are many stories to share, and if you’re in New York, you can hear me talking about it on WBAI tomorrow morning, or at the Brooklyn Food Conference on Saturday.

If you’re not, here’s the roundup of articles that nicely pull the different strands of what’s happening together. ... read more »

Raj's blog | 37 comments

Posted on 1 May, 2009 - 04:46

An argument that I find myself making over and over is that although diet is a very personal thing, it can be understood sociologically. And not only can it be understood this way, you have to understand it this way if you're to make sense of facts like one which I start the book with: that the closer Mexican teenagers are to the US border, the more likely they are to be overweight.

The dynamics of consumption that have been imposed on Mexico by its more powerful northern neighbour are having some profound effects. Mohammed writes with this article, which announces that Mexico is the second-most overweight country in the world, after the US, and if trends continue, will soon outweigh the gringos. More than 71 percent of Mexican women and 66 percent of Mexican men are overweight, according to the latest national surveys. ... read more »

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Posted on 1 April, 2008 - 21:12

Here's a tremendously thoughtful article about the world's richest man. No, not Bill Gates. Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecoms magnate. His irresistible rise is, to quote the author, Louis Nevaer, "the story of how NAFTA’s limitations distort income distribution in both Mexico and the United States."

The article comes from a news source which I'm not familiar with, but which I'm pleased to have stumbled upon. New American Media is an outlet for 'ethnic media', an unfortunate term for writing by people of colour. On the site, you'll find stories that aren't making it to CNN, precisely because they're written without the chauvinism and bully boy patriotism that seems to be the sine qua non of mainstream US media. Check out, for instance, American guns fueling violence in Mexico. And here's the article on Carlos Slim: ... read more »

Raj's blog | 3 comments

Posted on 28 July, 2007 - 17:23

From Food First comes an urgent action in defence of farmer leaders in Chihuahua. Send it to the Mexican embassy in the US, UK , Canada, or your own home country today.

Update
Here's an Update from Food First:

Chihuahua, Mexico-- Jesús Emiliano García, a Director of the Frente Democrático Campesino de Chihuahua (Peasants Democratic Front of Chihuahua--FDC), was released from prison Thursday morning after being held for six days on charges of “sabotage.” The arrest, which came after Jesús Emiliano helped organize protests over tortilla price increases, drew large crowds of protesters demanding his release. On the night of March 14th a judge dropped all charges on Jesús Emiliano and he was free to leave the following morning. He went directly to the Secretary of Agriculture office in Chihuahua, which has been occupied by more than 800 campesinos since Monday, where he was received with cheers and celebration. ... read more »

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Posted on 14 March, 2007 - 09:46

My good friend and co-editor Peter Rosset recently responded to this article in the New York Times. His letter wasn't published, but deserves to be read. So here it is:

Dear Sirs:

The recent upward spiral of prices for corn tortillas, the basic staple of the Mexican population, has garnered a lot of international media attention ("Thousands in Mexico City Protest Rising Food Prices," NY Times, February 1, 2007).

Sadly, most stories have missed the point. ... read more »

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Posted on 9 February, 2007 - 21:03

Here's something I've been keeping an eye on - the rising price of food in Mexico. There's a great deal more going on than recent coverage suggests. It's not simply a case of corn biofuel purchasing in the US causing a price rise in Mexico. The market isn't operating that straightforwardly. Here's one of the better analyses about it in English. It's up at Portside but I've re-posted it here, in full. I'm hoping to be able to plug the gaps in this analysis, with articles in La Jornada like this one by Alejandro Nadal. In the meantime, though, here's the basic 411.

Update
Here are some more links to relevant articles in La Jornada, here, here, here, here and here, courtesy of Peter Rosset, whose latest book, after selling out the first print run, is now available again. ___________________ ... read more »

Raj's blog | 10 comments

Posted on 2 February, 2007 - 07:14

Lee Kyung Hae was a peasant leader from South Korea who took his life at the 2003 World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, Mexico. In the hours before he died, he handed out a leaflet, challenging the WTO. Here, in a new translation by Christine Dann and Kim Hak Mook, is the text of that leaflet. You can also download a .pdf file.

___________

I was born on a farm in Korea. After graduating from agricultural high school and university I became a farmer, and with my own hands I developed a dairy farm on harsh, mountainous land. I also had a small area of rice paddy land on the lowlands, which my father transferred to me. With my fellow farmers, I built a farmers' association and I tried to contribute to my village, my community and my country, while carrying on my lovely occupation of farming. ... read more »

Raj's blog | 2 comments

Posted on 21 December, 2006 - 17:03

Via Campesina the international peasant movement has called for an international day of action at Mexican embassies around the world on 10 December in protest at the increasingly savage repression of peasant leaders in Oaxaca. ... read more »

Raj's blog | 2 comments

Posted on 9 December, 2006 - 21:00

A posting at the Monthly Review Zine tells of the new NAFTA supercorridor. If you've not heard of it, that's partly the point. Surreptitiously, construction has begun on the proposed route, which will link the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico to Duluth at the US Canada border on Lake Superior (download map from MR).

In a bilious op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Senior Fellow at the US Business and Industry Council points out that the effect will be to relegate Mexico into a trans-shipment point for Asian imports into the US. ... read more »

Raj's blog | 1 comment

Posted on 5 December, 2006 - 08:26