Mexico announces ‘food sovereignty’ plan

Mexico’s new president announced an agriculture plan that could make the country’s food production and distribution look a lot more like it did in the 1980s, when meals in Mexico were dominated by tortillas, beans, instant coffee and cheap hot chocolate.

Four decades ago, the ingredients for those meals were often bought at government stores that stocked a few basic goods.

President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged on Tuesday to revive those often shabby, limited government stores and continue efforts to achieve “food sovereignty”.

“It is about producing what we eat,” Sheinbaum said of her policy, whose main focus will be on increasing bean and corn production.

Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué said the focus would be on guaranteeing prices for farmers who grow corn used for tortillas and lowering tortilla prices by 10 per cent after prices jumped a couple of years ago.

The government aims to boost bean production by about 30 per cent in six years to replace imports of beans, and will set up research centres to supply higher-yielding bean seeds.

The government will also focus on supporting coffee production, but mainly for instant coffee, which it claims is used by 84 per cent of Mexican households. The plan will also seek to support cocoa production, but mainly for powdered baking and hot chocolate, not fine chocolate bars.

Bean consumption has been dropping precipitously for decades in Mexico. According to the government’s 2024 Agricultural Panorama report, Mexicans consume only about 17 pounds (7.7 kilogrammes) of beans annually. That’s less than half of the 35.2 pounds (16 kg) consumed per year in 1980.

Tortilla consumption has also fallen from nearly 220 pounds (100 kg) per capita annually in 2000 to about 165 pounds (75 kg) in 2024. Consumers have increasingly taken to buying bread and other bakery products instead of tortillas.

Chocolate was first exported to the rest of the world from Mexico, however Mexico’s own production has fallen dramatically because of plant diseases and a lack of investment. It dropped from almost 50,000 tons in 2003 to about 28,000 tons in 2022.

And while most Mexican homes purchase instant coffee, a Technavio industry report indicated that instant products accounted for only about 37 per cent of the sales value of coffee in Mexico.

AP