Study Results: Billions in Farm Subsidies Underwrite Junk Food

23 Sep, 2011

by Gretchen Goetz, via Food Safety News,

Each year when Americans pay their taxes, part of that money feeds into subsidies for junk food ingredients; and hardly any of it goes toward fresh produce, according to a new report.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) Wednesday released “Apples to Twinkies,” a review of agricultural subsidies that shows that since 1995, approximately 16.9 billion dollars in taxpayer money have gone toward supplementing four of the country’s most common food additives—corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch and soy oils.

These products are used almost exclusively to make junk foods such as chips, candy or soft drinks, or to change the consistency or flavor of staple foods.

“The ingredients that we focused on are really empty calories. They’re just added into foods to add calories, fat, or sweetness, without any nutritional value,” explained Mike Russo, Policy Analyst for US PIRG and lead author of the report.

Conversely, produce such as oranges or spinach receive no regular federal funding, with the exception of apples – on which the government spent about .01 percent of its agricultural subsidy money between 1995 and 2010.

At a time when obesity is becoming a rising concern in American, with 1 in 5 children ages 6 to 11 now obese, US PIRG says spending that makes junk foods cheaper to produce is a waste of government money, and should be curbed.

According to the report, 13 billion of the 181.1 billion bushels of corn sold since 1995 were used to make corn sweetener, and 4.3 billion bushels turned into corn starch. This means that of the money spent on corn by the government over these years, 9.7 percent of the money contributed directly to food additives. That’s $7.5 billion of the 77.1 billion taxpayer dollars spent on corn.

As for subsidies for soy bean oil, that number is an even greater 9.44 billion dollars. Soybean oil makes up around two thirds of all edible oils eaten in the United States, and is commonly used to make hydrogenated oils and other junk food additives.

That’s opposed to the 262 million dollars spent on apples over that same time period.

Not only would cutting off this lifeline to commodity crops reduce companies’ ability to produce junk food, but it would also put a dent in future costs to society arising from health problems associated with obesity, says the organization.

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