“Approximately 3% of U.S. corn production is used for human consumption annually. Of that, white corn accounts for less than 1%. However, demand for white corn is increasing as U.S. Latino populations expand and the popularity of Hispanic cuisine grows. White corn is often the preferred corn variety for use in Mexican-style and other corn-based foods including tortillas, corn flakes, corn meal, grits, and hominy. "
Food-grade white corn is grown in several states, but Texas and Nebraska are the leading producers. Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa also produce significant quantities of white corn. An estimated 700,000 acres were planted to white corn in 2005, compared to 430,000 acres in 1990. Genetic improvements have increased white corn yields and contributed to higher production levels.”
There are 1,602,403 Mexican-Americans in Illinois, 578,100 of them in Chicago alone, so there’s quite a market for tortillas here, and fresh masa for that matter. (And that number doesn’t even count other people who use masa harina and other white corn products in cooking, such as Salvadorans and Guatemalans, or, you know, gringos who like Latin American food.)
I can walk a block from my house to the nearest grocery of any size and buy any of half a dozen brands of fresh, locally made tortillas, fresh masa, and just about any other ingredient you can think of that is commonly used in Mexican food. There are dozens of restaurants within a mile or two of my home that offer homemade tortillas. How many Mexican cities have a population of more than half a million, plus serve as a grocery shopping draw for nearby states where there are no Latin groceries to speak of?
For example, I can find the following at my store: dried maiz blanco (although they did not have any today–it appears their bulk grain/legumes section disappeared for the moment), dried maiz trillado blanco, dried maiz trillado amarillo, dried maiz mote (also white), plus all that canned white hominy. (Yes, only the first is non-nixtamalized corn.) If I want to venture further afield, I can find maiz morado and stuff like that, too. There’s plenty of stuff that is difficult to find where I’m at. Dried white corn is not one of them.
My point is that it doesn’t appear to be as commonly available throughout the US as the other poster claims. The genetically modified part of the quote just happened to be in the same paragraph.
I think we have different ideas about what a fresh tortilla is. Fresh tortillas here don’t come in packages and don’t have a brand name. Most homes have a cloth that makes the trip to the tortilleria and that is what they are wrapped in. If you don’t take your own wrapper then they are wrapped in paper. many times you will see the people lined up waiting for the tortillas as they are sold directly from the comal or tortilla machine. Tortillas are for the most part sold within minutes of their fabrication.
Packaged brand named tortillas are sold at supermarkets. But no one here would call them fresh and they are a very small amount of the tortilla market.
Many cities of even less than a half million her serve as a shopping draw to their surrounding areas. The mercados de abastos in these cities are where many merchants from other areas purchase many of their products for resale in their local tiendas.
Also, what difference does it make if 3% or 12% of the US corn crop is used for edible corn? That just shows how enormous the corn industry is in our country. All that matters is total consumption.
Just because 1% of the corn used for consumption in the US is white corn doesn’t prove or mean that it’s not commonly available. I suspect it’s not as commonly available as Labrador Deceiver makes it out to be, but I don’t frequent health food stores or specialty/upscale supermarkets all that often. For all I know, Whole Foods and the like always stock it. It can be a specialty grain, but it can still be easy to find. I mean, Dr. Pepper, for example, is only 4% of the soft drink market, but you can find that most anywhere.
And, yes, I can walk down the street about 1 km and pick up fresh tortillas, no brand name, handmade from the birreria, while I wait. Now, yes, this is not typical in the US. However, it’s not unheard of, either.
Like I said before, what exactly are we arguing about here?
I just haven’t found it quite as ubiquitous but, as I said, I don’t do health food stores, so for all I know, it’s always available there. For example, my regular supermarket that doesn’t cater to Hispanics does not have it, and I don’t recall ever seeing it before the neighborhood became majority Hispanic. This does not mean it wasn’t easy to find if you knew where to look; it just wasn’t ubiquitous.
That link doesn’t prove that in any way. Like I said, Dr. Pepper is 4% of the soft drink market. Doesn’t mean it’s not readily available. Dried white corn may or may not be as readily available (I honestly don’t know and can only speak for my location, which I know is biased due to a large Mexican population), but that cite doesn’t prove that.
*"Cornbread made with freshly ground corn is amazingly flavorful. Whole kernel dry corn has always been difficult to find - even in places like Whole Foods - but now it seems to have disappeared entirely. The last time I purchased any locally, it was at the Newton Bread and Circus on Walnut Street - yep, back before the name change. It was also possible to get it mail order from King Arthur, but alas, it is gone from their catalog and website, too.
Poking around online has resulted in a few sources, but either you have to buy at least 25 pounds or you have to pay shipping charges that far exceed the price of the corn".*