By FRANK CARINI/ecoRI.org
News staff
PROVIDENCE — Since
1995, $19 billion in tax money has subsidized junk-food ingredients, such as
high-fructose corn syrup, compared to only $688 million in subsidies for
growing apples, according to a recently released report entitled “Apples to
Twinkies.” That means if subsidies for junk food went directly to taxpayers,
each one of them would receive enough money back to buy 21 Twinkies or half of
one red delicious apple.
The report is part of the Rhode Island Public Interest
Research Group’s (RIPIRG) “Stop Subsidizing Obesity” campaign. A press
conference was held Augst 3rd at Lippitt Park and featured some brief
comments from Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., Jesse Rye, managing director of
Farm Fresh Rhode Island, and Corinne Winter, a canvasser with RIPIRG.
“With obesity continuing to be one of our primary public-health concerns, there is no reason for the federal government to continue subsidizing corn and soybeans to be processed into junk-food additives,” Cicilline said.
“The government is
spending billions to subsidize junk food and very little for fresh fruit and
vegetables. Congress needs to cut off generous subsidies for large
agricultural corporations and do a better job promoting good public health policies.”
But even as America
faces soaring obesity rates, sequestration and tough federal budget choices,
taxpayer dollars continue to fund the production of junk-food ingredients and
support Big Ag. In the past 18 years, the government has spent $292.5 billion
on agricultural subsidies, $19.2 billion of which have subsidized corn- and
soy-derived ingredients that are used to make soda, fast food and, well,
Twinkies.
To make matters — and
public health — worse, most of the fruits and vegetables grown in Rhode Island
are considered “specialty crops” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USCA).
That means that local farmers growing fresh foods essential to a healthy diet
are receiving virtually no taxpayer support, according to Rye.
The local food
movement is gaining momentum in Rhode Island and elsewhere, so improving
national agricultural policies to give farmers more access to resources that
allow them to grow food, not commodities, can only help to strengthen a bright
spot in the Ocean State’s economy and the public’s overall health, Rye said.
While federal
lawmakers are still debating the fate of the farm bill — the piece of
legislation containing these junk-food subsidies — big agribusinesses are
actively lobbying Congress to renew and even increase these outdated subsidies.
With today’s children
three times more likely to be obese than their counterparts of three decades
ago, with 31 percent of the adolescent population now overweight or obese and
obesity-related medical costs reaching an estimated $150 billion a year, it’s
absurd that the federal government continues to finance the production of
sweeteners and oil additives, Winter said.
