USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) handed out over $16 billion in subsides to farms in 2009 to corn, soy, rice, and other products. This hefty sum maintains and projects the economy of our food industry. As a consequence we see low prices of soy, rice, and corn while soy protein shows up in almost everything and the sweetener of choice by manufacturers is corn syrup. The logic behind this distribution of wealth is that these products are basic necessities and by reducing their cost we reduce the price of everything made with them. When was the last time you didn’t see something with soy or corn syrup in it?
Merits aside, there’s a better system, which can work in tandem with this one. Switch from an essentials subsidy program to a health subsidy program. We don’t have to create a new system. The terminology and requirements are already in place. Slowly transfer these subsidies to USDA Organic products. Set a ten your transferral plan to give the industry time to cope. The products losing their subsides can just as easily retain them if they switch to organic. View full article »
