Fransisco D. Gurri                             Emilio F. Moran
                                               Colegio de la Frontera Sur                      Indiana University

In the past 25 years, a strategy combining food production and salaried work in the cities of Merida and Cancun has improved the rural Yucatec Mayasâ economic and biological well being. This new found income, however, has eliminated migration pressures and population control mechanisms contributing to local population growth.   The amount of land cleared per family continues to be the same as it was in the past so that fallow times and  agricultural yields have declined.  Soil conditions have forced peasants to incorporate herbicides that kill beans and squash, resulting in maize mono-cropping.  The reduction of the Mayaâs ability to produce food is not being met by any other alternatives.  State and federal programs designed to encourage commercial agriculture at  the expense of food production would leave land distribution decisions to traditional leaders and are being rejected by the rest of the community.  Unfortunately, subsistence agriculture may soon not be a viable alternative in the area.  Thus, unless the Mexican price and salary relationships change, health and well-being in the maize region may be threatened.

Keywords: health and well-being, maize agriculture, policy, Yucatec Maya, Mexico