Farm Subsidies and the Cost of Salads vs. Big Macs
Have a look at the graph above (larger version). It makes you wonder about the priorities of business vs. health. It comes from a Good Medicine report on the Farm Bill in the US, extrapolating why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.
The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products—the same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.
This is so wrong. But clearly the decision to allocate funds is not made on an overall health-for-the-community basis. If high-quality veggies were cheaper, which made it easier for people to afford them and embrace them in their diet, the health benefits accrued would be easily seen in a cheaper aggregate medical bill, not to mention a higher quality of life.
I don’t think it is too far to go to say that, in a sense, we’re dealing with what is effectively a tax on smarter food choices.
