Mexico targets bean production amid modern preferences

DAILY Bites

• Food sovereignty: Sheinbaum’s plan aims to boost domestic corn and bean production and cut imports.

• 30% bean production increase: The government plans to develop high-yield seeds and improve self-sufficiency.

• Consumer habits challenge: Shifting away from processed foods and imports poses difficulties for the plan.

DAILY Discussion

Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, unveiled an agriculture plan Tuesday that could reshape the country’s food production and distribution to what many are saying will resemble the 1980s, when meals were centered on tortillas, beans, instant coffee, and affordable hot chocolate.

Sheinbaum pledged to revive government stores that sold basic goods, continuing efforts toward “food sovereignty.” She told the Associated Press, “It is about producing what we eat,” with a focus on increasing corn and bean production.

Agriculture Secretary Julio Berdegué also said the plan aims to guarantee prices for corn farmers and lower tortilla prices by 10 percent after recent hikes. The government plans to boost bean production by 30 percent over six years and establish research centers to develop higher-yield bean seeds. “Self-sufficiency in beans is a goal the president has set for us,” he said.

He explained that, over the next six years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) will work based on four guiding principles: well-being, production, water, and sustainability, with the aim of eradicating extreme poverty in rural areas, increasing the share of national production in food supply, significantly improving water efficiency for irrigation, and accelerating the ecological transition of the entire agri-food system.

The plan also includes supporting instant coffee and cocoa production, focusing on powdered chocolate for baking and hot chocolate. However, the policies run against modern market trends. Berdegué noted that while most Mexican households use instant coffee, consumption of fresh-ground coffee has increased, along with a surge in specialty coffee shops.

“Mexico consumes one million tons a year, of which we import 300,000; the goal of this program is to stop importing those 300,000 and produce them here,” Secretary Berdegué Sacristán explained.

However, Mexico’s bean consumption has dropped significantly, now at about 17 pounds annually, down from 35 pounds in 1980. Amanda Gálvez, a researcher at Mexico’s National Autonomous University wrote, “We look down at beans because it is considered ‘the food of the poor,’ and we are making a serious mistake,” noting their nutritional benefits. However, refried beans, Mexico’s most common preparation, are often cooked with lard, raising health concerns.

Tortilla consumption has also fallen, from 220 pounds per capita annually in 2000 to about 165 pounds in 2024, as more people opt for bread and bakery products.

The government’s plan faces an uphill battle in shifting consumer habits and contradicts market trends. Sheinbaum’s focus on self-sufficiency echoes policies from former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her predecessor and political mentor, who favored a nostalgic vision of Mexico in the 1970s, with state-owned industries and small corner stores.

Sheinbaum also announced a “junk food” ban in schools, targeting processed snacks and sugary beverages, set to take effect in six months. However, columnist Javier Tejado, writing for El Universal, noted that similar past efforts, like the 2014 ban on junk food ads aimed at children, failed to change behavior. “Things are worse than when they started in 2014; Mexicans have decided to keep consuming things they like,” he said.

Sheinbaum’s agriculture plan to boost domestic bean and corn production shares similarities with former President López Obrador’s 2020 decree banning genetically modified corn and glyphosate.

Despite announcing abandoning the GM corn objective, both initiatives aim to achieve greater food self-sufficiency and reduce Mexico’s reliance on imports. López Obrador’s GM corn ban sought to cut imports by 30-40 percent and increase domestic production. However, the policy has faced delays and revisions due to the country’s heavy dependence on imported U.S. corn, especially for animal feed and industrial use.

Similarly, Sheinbaum’s focus on boosting local bean production by 30% echoes this push for domestic control over staple foods, even as modern market preferences challenge both initiatives. While Sheinbaum is targeting staples like beans and tortillas, the struggle to shift consumer behavior away from processed foods and imports highlights the challenges of reversing Mexico’s agricultural dependency — paralleling the ongoing complexities of implementing the GM corn ban. Both efforts reflect Mexico’s broader push for food sovereignty but illustrate the difficulty in balancing domestic production with modern consumption patterns.