Fortified Tortillas

It was gratifying to read that the fortified tortilla may provide a means to improve the lot of Mexico’s poor (“The Lowly Tortilla Gets a Boost,” Aug. 4).

There is another issue that goes hand in hand with programs aimed at providing the decent life that all children should be granted, and that is providing all people with the knowledge of and access to birth control programs, specifically the provision of free contraceptives in poor and rural areas.

The still-young Esquivel family featured in the article already has five children living on “the family’s tiny cornfield.” How will they continue to provide for six, seven or eight children? How will the cornfield be divided among them? The root of the world’s starvation and poverty is overpopulation, and until that issue is addressed seriously these scourges will not only continue but also grow.

NOELLE DONFELD

Pacific Palisades