And in the book I mentioned, as yet still unpacked, there is talk of yellow being “rich” and white being “pure”. Those are often words associated with “taste” preferences for foods where literal taste is not an issue, for example eggshell colour.

I think there is more to the question than taste/preference alone (this can change rapidly, as it did in the US).

Improved varieties of yellow maize are lagging behind yellow varieties in Central America in productivity. Could spending more research money on yellow maize make it more attractive economically? Just a thought.

http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/Maize/maize_map.php

If you know what color people prefer in Latin America (and you read Spanish or Portuguese), please fill out our survey at

http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/Maize/maize_survey.php

Anybody can fill out the survey. You just need to be able to roughly estimate how much of the maize consumed is white or yellow.

So far the map is showing some interesting patterns. Rural Mexico is mostly white maize. But if you ever eat tortillas there and you are in cities, they will probably be yellow (imported from USA). Central America and the high Andes from Bolivia northward are also white maize areas, which might make it difficult to address Vitamin A deficiency with yellow maize (in the 2 areas where nutrition problems are greatest). Yellow maize is predominant in the Amazon, including the countries of the western Amazon where white maize may be preferred in the mountain and coast regions. Brazil and the southern cone look to be mostly yellow maize areas.

I agree with Luigi. I don’t think it will be easy to get people to change their preferences.

I’ve lived in the northeast, west and Midwest US, and in all places corn was almost always yellow. Occasionally it was white, especially cornmeal. Sometimes we would get fresh corn ears that had both yellow and white kernels on them. I think some people might be reluctant to buy all white fresh corn, thinking it wasn’t fully mature, so that probably isn’t common anywhere except perhaps a few speciality markets.

I don’t think anyone ever bought corn according to what color it was, you just took what you got. I don’t think anyone ever had a preference either. Quality was normally a regional thing, with the Midwest having the best.

This kind of food preference is often regional. Some places like brown eggs and others white. There are also areas that like white cheese or yellow cheese. I can believe a preference existed for corn at some point, but I don’t think anymore.