By Jai Ranchod
Anyone who says they can single-handedly solve the healthcare crisis in America is lying. I won’t pretend I can do it in 250 words. However, there is at least one non-partisan measure that could easily help.
U.S. taxpayers shell out $5 billion annually in agriculture subsidies that overwhelmingly go to large agribusinesses. These subsidies take the form of crop insurance that incentivizes growth of commodity crops, like corn. This leads to an excessive supply of corn, which in turn leads to a surplus of corn syrup. Corn syrup is used as cheap filler to make cheap foods. Not surprisingly the poorest Americans, who have fewer options, consume the cheapest foods. The American Diabetes Association proved the link between lack of wealth and diabetes, and the recent dramatic increase in diabetes (217% from 1990 to 2009 according to the CDC) has had a significant economic impact according to the ADA.
Given the development of agricultural technology over the past half-century, these subsidies are clearly antiquated. They come from an era when farmers were completely at the mercy of the seasons and the U.S. government would pay farmers to NOT grow food in order to control the food market. We now have synthetic seeds, sophisticated irrigation systems, and well orchestrated transportation networks to stabilize the food market. On a practical level there is clearly no longer a need for farm subsidies.
At one point the United States loaned the Soviet Union $700 million so that the Soviet Union could buy 30 million tons of U.S. grain. Unsurprisingly this government interference in the free market sent grain prices spiraling out of control. This is merely one anecdote among many that underlines the need for the removal of the U.S. government from the agriculture industry.
Eliminating farm subsidies would make small farms more competitive and make the food market healthier.
Anyone who says they can single-handedly solve the healthcare crisis in America is lying. I won’t pretend I can do it in 250 words. However, there is at least one non-partisan measure that could easily help.
U.S. taxpayers shell out $5 billion annually in agriculture subsidies that overwhelmingly go to large agribusinesses. These subsidies take the form of crop insurance that incentivizes growth of commodity crops, like corn. This leads to an excessive supply of corn, which in turn leads to a surplus of corn syrup. Corn syrup is used as cheap filler to make cheap foods. Not surprisingly the poorest Americans, who have fewer options, consume the cheapest foods. The American Diabetes Association proved the link between lack of wealth and diabetes, and the recent dramatic increase in diabetes (217% from 1990 to 2009 according to the CDC) has had a significant economic impact according to the ADA.
Given the development of agricultural technology over the past half-century, these subsidies are clearly antiquated. They come from an era when farmers were completely at the mercy of the seasons and the U.S. government would pay farmers to NOT grow food in order to control the food market. We now have synthetic seeds, sophisticated irrigation systems, and well orchestrated transportation networks to stabilize the food market. On a practical level there is clearly no longer a need for farm subsidies.
At one point the United States loaned the Soviet Union $700 million so that the Soviet Union could buy 30 million tons of U.S. grain. Unsurprisingly this government interference in the free market sent grain prices spiraling out of control. This is merely one anecdote among many that underlines the need for the removal of the U.S. government from the agriculture industry.
Eliminating farm subsidies would make small farms more competitive and make the food market healthier.