1
00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,480
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you very much. Then President Bill Clinton

2
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: stepped up to a podium to make an announcement. I

3
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,200
Speaker 1: believe we have might a decision now that will permit

4
00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,439
Speaker 1: us to create an economic order in the world that

5
00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,320
Speaker 1: will promote more growth, more equality, better preservation of the environment,

6
00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,520
Speaker 1: and a greater possibility of world peace. That clip is

7
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,360
Speaker 1: from the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, and in it,

8
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: the President signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement,

9
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,840
Speaker 1: or NAFTA. The goal of that law was to boost

10
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 1: the U s economy by opening up trade with Canada

11
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,080
Speaker 1: and Mexico. Twenty four years later, trade has grown. For example,

12
00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,640
Speaker 1: Mexico now sends almost eleven billion dollars worth of fruit

13
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,159
Speaker 1: and vegetables each year into the US, and farmers in

14
00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,200
Speaker 1: states like Iowa make their living by sending korn south.

15
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,720
Speaker 1: But NAFTA also caused something else to expand, a different

16
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,680
Speaker 1: kind of boom. Clinton didn't mention back in After more

17
00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,280
Speaker 1: than two decades of America exporting corn, cork, and dairy

18
00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:21,080
Speaker 1: products to Mexico, what's also growing our Mexican waistlines. Welcome

19
00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,960
Speaker 1: to benchmark. I'm Scott Landman, economics editor of Bloomberg News

20
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,760
Speaker 1: in Washington on Benchmark. We've discussed before how the Trump

21
00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,000
Speaker 1: administration thinks NAFTA is unfair to American workers, but we've

22
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,280
Speaker 1: never really looked at how the trade agreement has changed

23
00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 1: Mexico and its citizens. One big change America has made

24
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,080
Speaker 1: Mexico more opies. A recent study by researchers in the

25
00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,840
Speaker 1: US and Europe, posted on the website fox Eu, found

26
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,840
Speaker 1: a direct correlation between declining public health in Mexico and

27
00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,080
Speaker 1: the increase in soybean and pork products being shipped there.

28
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 1: Shelley Hagen, our economy team intern in DC, wrote an

29
00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,200
Speaker 1: article about this study, and she's here with us today. Shelly,

30
00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: Welcome to Benchmark. Thanks for having me, Scott. So what

31
00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 1: did this paper say, Shelly? A group of economists found

32
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,200
Speaker 1: that Mexico has been importing a large amount of unhealthy

33
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,640
Speaker 1: American food and beverage products, a number that has grown

34
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 1: since NAFTA went into effect in the ninety nineties. At

35
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,640
Speaker 1: the same time, Mexico's imports of healthy American products like

36
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,760
Speaker 1: fruits and veggies have not grown nearly as fast as

37
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,680
Speaker 1: the unhealthy imports. Well, Mexico has been purchasing more and

38
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,720
Speaker 1: more unhealthy goods from America. Mexico's obesity rates have also

39
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,440
Speaker 1: risen as much as fifteen in twenty years. In fact,

40
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,919
Speaker 1: Mexico now has more overweight and obese people as a

41
00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,480
Speaker 1: share of the population than more than thirty major economies,

42
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 1: including the US. All right, thanks Shelly. Now to discuss

43
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,080
Speaker 1: this change in public health, we're joined by Simone Barkara.

44
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,600
Speaker 1: He's the executive director of the Nutrition and Health Research

45
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,799
Speaker 1: Center at Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, and he's

46
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,400
Speaker 1: spent years studying obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. He joins

47
00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,840
Speaker 1: us from Cuernavaca, Mexico, just outside Mexico City. Dr Barkarra,

48
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,919
Speaker 1: Bien beneito, and welcome to Benchmark. Thank you very much. First,

49
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,880
Speaker 1: just a bit of full disclosure. Dr Barkerra's research has

50
00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,959
Speaker 1: been partially funded through an unrestricted grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies,

51
00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,760
Speaker 1: which encompasses the charitable activities of Mike Bloomberg, the founder

52
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,040
Speaker 1: and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, which is the parent

53
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,000
Speaker 1: company of this podcast. So let's go back in time

54
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,240
Speaker 1: thirty years ago to the nineteen eighties. Dr Barkerra, what

55
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,559
Speaker 1: did Mexicans eat back then at that time, the consumption

56
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: was mostly of basic foods that were prepared in houses,

57
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:51,320
Speaker 1: mostly beings, tortilla, and many vegetables that are combined in

58
00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:57,440
Speaker 1: the dishes. Also fruits that are locally produced, and different

59
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,480
Speaker 1: types of water infusions that we called our fascus, some

60
00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,560
Speaker 1: of them with some amount of sugar, but not as

61
00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,119
Speaker 1: much as a soda. And that has changed a lot

62
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,920
Speaker 1: since then. And how would you describe the general health

63
00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,279
Speaker 1: of Mexicans thirty years ago. Well, in the eighties there

64
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,800
Speaker 1: was a very low prevalence of overweight and obesity, maybe

65
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 1: only about less than thirty percent of the population had

66
00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,000
Speaker 1: obviosity all overweight, and right now is seventy percent. So

67
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,160
Speaker 1: we basically are thinking of another country where where over

68
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,200
Speaker 1: city was very uncommon. And how did this change throughout

69
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,599
Speaker 1: the nineteen nineties and the two thousand's. Well, it was

70
00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,600
Speaker 1: very interesting to see that in just an eleven year

71
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:52,680
Speaker 1: periods from night to nineteen nine, the increase, for example,

72
00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,680
Speaker 1: in so that consumption was of about four percent. At

73
00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,400
Speaker 1: the same time at that moment, the consumption of fruits

74
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:06,920
Speaker 1: and vegetables decrease, and there was a very important change

75
00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,680
Speaker 1: in the patterns of food consumption but also in the

76
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,039
Speaker 1: general food system in the country. How much of a

77
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,039
Speaker 1: problem is obesity in Mexico today? Today, I can say

78
00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,640
Speaker 1: that is the most important public health problem. We have

79
00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,039
Speaker 1: an alert and epiemiologic alert due to the side rates

80
00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,360
Speaker 1: of diabetes and obesity that we are facing. Since maybe

81
00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,719
Speaker 1: since two thousand and twelve, we have sevent of all

82
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,839
Speaker 1: adults with overweight and obesity and one out of every

83
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,840
Speaker 1: three children has overweight or obesity. So it's a very

84
00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,760
Speaker 1: complex situation. In the case of diabetes, we are one

85
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,720
Speaker 1: of the countries in the world with the highest mortality

86
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:57,720
Speaker 1: and bordering of this condition, which is mostly related to

87
00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,320
Speaker 1: the high rates of ovicity. And what would you say

88
00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,039
Speaker 1: are the byproducts of this trend? I mean, how is

89
00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,960
Speaker 1: that affecting, say, health services in the country, hospitals, doctors.

90
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,480
Speaker 1: How would you describe that well? Is very complicated. Is

91
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:17,400
Speaker 1: a challenge because obesity is associated with more than faulting

92
00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,400
Speaker 1: causes of death, and so it goes from diabetes to

93
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,560
Speaker 1: the vascular disease and cancer. And these chronic conditions are

94
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,320
Speaker 1: very expensive because they cannot be solved with antibiotic with

95
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 1: a single treatment. These conditions require life treatments and complications

96
00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:42,200
Speaker 1: are very expensive and cause a lot of incapacity. So

97
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:49,880
Speaker 1: these these conditions affect productivity. So, for example, the diabetes

98
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,400
Speaker 1: is the main cause of blindness in the country, also

99
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:58,840
Speaker 1: also of amputations, and also of renal failure and dialysis,

100
00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,600
Speaker 1: and this kind of treat meants are so expensive that

101
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,479
Speaker 1: there is no enough budget in the system to to

102
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,560
Speaker 1: be able to treat all the patients with this problem.

103
00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,560
Speaker 1: So so definitely the only option is to try to

104
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 1: walk very fat on preventing and controlling these conditions through

105
00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,640
Speaker 1: reducing the rates of obesity. Why do you think Mexicans

106
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,160
Speaker 1: have become more obese than many other countries that are

107
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,880
Speaker 1: more developed and have higher incomes. Well, I think it's

108
00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,760
Speaker 1: a combination of factors, but one of the most important

109
00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:41,200
Speaker 1: is a very rapid transition to a model of industrialized food,

110
00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:47,720
Speaker 1: which is a phenomenon called accorporation, and without controlling the

111
00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,960
Speaker 1: new environment. So the population transition very quickly from drinking

112
00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,640
Speaker 1: aguas frisk ass and and traditional food basic food prepar

113
00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,120
Speaker 1: at home to ultra processful that is bought in a

114
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,000
Speaker 1: supermarket that has a lot of ingredients that our own

115
00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:13,440
Speaker 1: healthy such as sugar, salt, and fat, and without knowing

116
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:19,600
Speaker 1: really the relation of diet to these chronic conditions which

117
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,000
Speaker 1: were not really prevalent in the country. So you can

118
00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,160
Speaker 1: still now see many populations in impoor areas of the country,

119
00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,520
Speaker 1: such as the South, where people have diabetes for the

120
00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,440
Speaker 1: first time in their families. So first generation and is

121
00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,960
Speaker 1: very complicated. They don't understand why they felt thirsty, and

122
00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,480
Speaker 1: they sometimes they don't know that that they have to

123
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,960
Speaker 1: stop drinking soda. There are many communities where soda has

124
00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:53,160
Speaker 1: become part of local ritual traditions. So it is becoming

125
00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,319
Speaker 1: very complicated to try to implement measures or policies to

126
00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,960
Speaker 1: decrease this unhalth new habits in the population. And would

127
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 1: you say that obesity is more of an issue in

128
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,360
Speaker 1: cities or in rural areas or both. Well, obviosity is

129
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,000
Speaker 1: more prevalent in the cities right now in Mexico, But

130
00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,200
Speaker 1: when you mentioned the speed of increase, rural areas are

131
00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 1: now having a higher speed of increasing the prevalence of obesity.

132
00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,560
Speaker 1: That means that rural areas are very quickly catching up

133
00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,760
Speaker 1: with the high prevalence of obbicity that we are watching

134
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,520
Speaker 1: in the cities. Simon, over the last twenty years or

135
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:37,840
Speaker 1: So did it ever cross your mind that it was

136
00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,120
Speaker 1: NAFTA that was helped playing a role in delivering these

137
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,840
Speaker 1: kinds of foods that were boosting obesity in Mexico. Yes, yes,

138
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:52,120
Speaker 1: because we saw very interesting effect effects in food prices

139
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,120
Speaker 1: after NaSTA. For example, Mexico is a big publisher of sugar,

140
00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:01,800
Speaker 1: but with NAFTA we started to have also high cone

141
00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:06,200
Speaker 1: fructose competing in the market. That and and the high

142
00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,120
Speaker 1: fructose is subsidized empowered by the United States, so it's

143
00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,359
Speaker 1: really low priced. So to try to maintain the production

144
00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,080
Speaker 1: and the workers of sugar, the government in Mexico also

145
00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,440
Speaker 1: started some sort of support and subsidies to sugar. So

146
00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,480
Speaker 1: the net balance of nat time in this example was

147
00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:29,600
Speaker 1: that in a very short period of time we had

148
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:35,720
Speaker 1: very inexpensive sugar, and that was an incentive for producers

149
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,320
Speaker 1: of many kinds of ultra process foods of adding sugar,

150
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,280
Speaker 1: which everybody likes, and it's an inexpensive way to make

151
00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,880
Speaker 1: to add something to a food. So this was one

152
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,520
Speaker 1: of the very important changes. The other change that was

153
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:57,160
Speaker 1: impressive was the amount of supermarkets in Mexico just after NATA.

154
00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,400
Speaker 1: I could say that most of the football chases now

155
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:06,400
Speaker 1: are done in supermarkets sometimes are the big change with

156
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,320
Speaker 1: the same names as in the US. And there used

157
00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:11,640
Speaker 1: to be shopping in most people. Would you used to

158
00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,400
Speaker 1: shop at, say, smaller markets. Is that is that fair? Yes? Yes,

159
00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,160
Speaker 1: they used to shop in small markets of locally produced

160
00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:24,520
Speaker 1: foods for example, that there was always as the bakeries

161
00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,560
Speaker 1: in Europe, we have the tortillas the cornery shop in

162
00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,720
Speaker 1: which there was a tortilla small little factor in in

163
00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,160
Speaker 1: in every town. And now the tortillas are in solved

164
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,679
Speaker 1: in the supermarket also and it's the same the same

165
00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,640
Speaker 1: kind of preparation of flower for for all of them,

166
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,440
Speaker 1: and it's an industrialized process. So is the food system

167
00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,839
Speaker 1: has changed a lot in only twenty two third years now.

168
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,880
Speaker 1: There have also been some efforts to attack this problem,

169
00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,920
Speaker 1: to restrict the consumption of the kinds of foods that

170
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,680
Speaker 1: are making people a beast. There's a soda tax and

171
00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:07,640
Speaker 1: and also I believe a junk food tax. Are these

172
00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,240
Speaker 1: taxes working? Have they had any effect on obesity? Yes?

173
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,920
Speaker 1: We we definitely have evidence that these taxes are working.

174
00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:21,920
Speaker 1: And when we first watch consumption of soada in the

175
00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,080
Speaker 1: end of the nineties, there was a very big amount

176
00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,880
Speaker 1: of calories coming every day from sugary beverage in all

177
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,640
Speaker 1: age groups. So so it was it was a problem,

178
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:37,800
Speaker 1: and we started recommending a solar tax seems two and three.

179
00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:42,640
Speaker 1: So after more than dangers, finally the government had a

180
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,920
Speaker 1: window of opportunity to implement the tax, and we sad

181
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,760
Speaker 1: don't different efforts to evaluate the effects in these two

182
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,280
Speaker 1: years which is the period that we have the tax.

183
00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,319
Speaker 1: It's a small tax, it's only one the super leader,

184
00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:04,640
Speaker 1: so equivalent to about ten and even though if smaller

185
00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:10,280
Speaker 1: than that what most international agencies recommend, it has been

186
00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,480
Speaker 1: able to show reductions in consumption that are of about

187
00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,800
Speaker 1: seven to twelve depending on the on the groups. And

188
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,800
Speaker 1: that's a lot that in a country that has one

189
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,479
Speaker 1: and twenty six million inhabitants, having these kind of reductions

190
00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:33,000
Speaker 1: to cap it them represent many tons of sugar that

191
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:38,080
Speaker 1: are not consumed thanks to this policy. Besides taxes, what

192
00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:43,439
Speaker 1: other policies could help. Well, we are trying very intensively

193
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:49,280
Speaker 1: to promote some warning levels on food products that are unhealthy,

194
00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,720
Speaker 1: particularly so that and ultra process foods that are hiring salt,

195
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:59,360
Speaker 1: sugar or fat. We have seen that countries like Chili

196
00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,439
Speaker 1: that implemented. These kind of warning levels in the foods

197
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,200
Speaker 1: allow the consumers to very quickly identify on healthy foods

198
00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,720
Speaker 1: and look for healthier decisions. So I think this is

199
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,319
Speaker 1: one policy that in which we need to work very hard.

200
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,440
Speaker 1: We are trying to to convince the decision makers that

201
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,440
Speaker 1: this is a very powerful tool in a population that

202
00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:30,760
Speaker 1: doesn't know how to interpret these complex labelings with numbers

203
00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,960
Speaker 1: and percentages. That it's almost like a cigarette warning labels

204
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,240
Speaker 1: for chunk food right exactly, you're saying this product is

205
00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,520
Speaker 1: high or has an excess of sugar, and then the

206
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,440
Speaker 1: consumer can compare this one with one that doesn't have

207
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,120
Speaker 1: this level, and and that that is very helpful in

208
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,440
Speaker 1: the context. And the other policy that cool health a

209
00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:57,560
Speaker 1: lot is controls on marketing. So again in the same

210
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,160
Speaker 1: way as in tobacco, market think is a very powerful

211
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,720
Speaker 1: tool of corporations to increase consumption. And sometimes this marketing

212
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,920
Speaker 1: in foods is directed to children. So we need to

213
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:17,200
Speaker 1: develop better policies and regulations to protect children from having

214
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,760
Speaker 1: on healthy foods. We are for example, evaluating point of

215
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:25,720
Speaker 1: purchase and in the supermarkets it is completely directed to

216
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,640
Speaker 1: attract children's and most of the foods that are sold

217
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,880
Speaker 1: have have excess of sugar and other ingredients that are unhealthy.

218
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,880
Speaker 1: So this is something that which we also need to

219
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,360
Speaker 1: work a lot, and in schools and other sites in

220
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,800
Speaker 1: which children are very frequently, such as public parks, try

221
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,680
Speaker 1: to increase availability of water and to decrease marketing and

222
00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:54,240
Speaker 1: also sale off on healthy products. Dr bark Hera, we

223
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,480
Speaker 1: can't let you go without talking about the big issue,

224
00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,360
Speaker 1: loving all over this and trace Manuel Lopez over Doors

225
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:04,600
Speaker 1: the leading candidate in Mexico's upcoming presidential election, and he

226
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,080
Speaker 1: likes to talk about how NAFTA has driven Mexican farmers

227
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,560
Speaker 1: out of business, just as a side not check out

228
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,920
Speaker 1: our new poll tracker on Bloomberg dot com for the

229
00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,840
Speaker 1: Mexican presidential election. Dr Barca, is there any link between

230
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,880
Speaker 1: the loss of local agriculture in Mexico and the rise

231
00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 1: in obesity? My sense is that in general, many of

232
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:31,080
Speaker 1: the macro egonomic indicators of Mexico have been improving. Even

233
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,840
Speaker 1: talking about health and development, we have been a nation

234
00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,760
Speaker 1: that is showing a little bit about average improvement compared

235
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,720
Speaker 1: to other Latin American countries. So it is complex to

236
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,640
Speaker 1: evaluate something such as the food system that has many effects.

237
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,320
Speaker 1: Many experts, for examples from the World Health Organization are

238
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:59,800
Speaker 1: trying to understand the net benefits of trade, which some

239
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,840
Speaker 1: times are for example, food availability and reduction of on

240
00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,840
Speaker 1: their nutrition, and then compare the trade offs such as

241
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:12,040
Speaker 1: increasing no communical point diseases. This is a challenge and

242
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,439
Speaker 1: we don't have very clear understanding of it, but in

243
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,480
Speaker 1: general I think the main challenge is a challenge that

244
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,040
Speaker 1: can be solved mostly by regulating and helping the food

245
00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:31,639
Speaker 1: environment more than avoiding phrase just as a solution. All right,

246
00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,879
Speaker 1: a very diplomatic answer, Dr Barkerra, thank you so much

247
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 1: for joining us today on Benchmark. Thank you very much.

248
00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:44,199
Speaker 1: Scott Benchmark will be back next week. Until then, you

249
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,960
Speaker 1: can find us on the Bloomberg terminal, Bloomberg dot com,

250
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,920
Speaker 1: our Bloomberg app, and podcast destinations such as Apple, podcast,

251
00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,359
Speaker 1: Overcast and Stitcher. Please take time to rate and review

252
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,800
Speaker 1: the show, and you can also find us on Twitter.

253
00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,440
Speaker 1: You can follow me at Scott Landman Show le You're

254
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,840
Speaker 1: at at Shelley k Hagen s h E l l

255
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,440
Speaker 1: y k h A g A. N our guest is

256
00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 1: at at s b A r q U E r

257
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,240
Speaker 1: A and as a side note, check out our new

258
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,840
Speaker 1: pull tracker on bloomberg dot com for the Mexican presidential election.

259
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,720
Speaker 1: Benchmark is produced by tofor foreheas the head of Bloomberg

260
00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,480
Speaker 1: Podcast is Francesco Levy. Thanks for listening, See you next time.