Sheinbaum’s food fight in Mexico’s schools

A stack of blue corn tortillas. Image: Marcos Castillo.

Claudia Sheinbaum has been talking a lot about beans and tortillas recently.

In the first weeks of her administration, Sheinbaum has gone all in on reshaping the diets of Mexico’s youth. Schools now have six months to ban junk food. If they don’t, administrators could face fines that could total a year’s salary.

Sheinbaum has also announced plans to cut tortilla prices by 10%. That might sound like a lot, but tortilla prices surged 60% between 2018 and 2024. Tortillas are a staple, and inflation has hit them hard. The skyrocketing price matters. During the same period the prevalence of junk food in Mexicans’ diets also increased.

Now she’s moved on to beans. Mexicans eat less than half the beans they did in the 1980s. They import far more, too. At the same time, ultra-processed food consumption has exploded. Mexico is battling one of the worst childhood obesity crises in the world, and it’s also an unfortunate leader in the diabetes rankings. Sheinbaum wants to reverse the trend. She sees getting more beans and tortillas back into the youths’ diets as a key part of the solution.

For this, she’s taken some heat. Critics say she’s trying to take the country back to the 1980s. That wouldn’t be so bad, only 10% of Mexico’s population was overweight in 1980. But that’s not even the point.

Mexico is in a healthcare crisis. Some of that, including skyrocketing rates of uninsured people, can be laid at the feet of former President López Obrador (AMLO). But this issue is decades in the making. Mexico’s Coca-Cola addiction is infamous. But in the last 30 years, the rise of ultra-processed foods has made things worse. Mexico consumes more ultra-processed foods than any other Latin American country, and one third of its children are overweight or obese. Put into an international context, around 15% of British children (who are also trending in a worrying direction) are overweight or obese. Mexico’s healthcare system can barely cope.

Some critics argue the government has a poor record of changing consumer behaviour. They point to former President Peña Nieto’s junk food ad ban as an example. He also slapped a tax on sugary drinks. Former President Calderón banned fried foods. They’re not wrong, rates of obesity moderately increased since those actions. The various examples aren’t the same, though. Ads sell products, and taxes increase prices. But kids don’t make the buying decisions, parents do. What Sheinbaum is doing is different, and builds on Calderón’s actions (even though she’ll hate to admit it): shifting what’s available in schools. That’s well within the state’s rights. Schools provide the food, and kids will eat what’s in front of them when they’re hungry. The evidence shows shifting young diets to ones based around fruit and vegetables works.

As of today, 98% of schools in Mexico serve junk food to their pupils. Sheinbaum made it clear this week: she’d rather kids eat bean tacos than potato chips. She’s right. And she’s also right to use the power of the state to push this shift, at least within schools. Mexico’s childhood obesity crisis isn’t going away on its own, and it’s unsustainable. Every option should be on the table. Sheinbaum’s bean and tortilla push won’t be a silver bullet. But focusing on more bean tacos and fewer potato chips? That’s not as bad a place to start as some are suggesting.