The federal government has spent $16.9 billion over the past 15 years to subsidize key ingredients in junk foods that bloat Americans’ midsections and contribute to obesity-related medical conditions that cost billions more to treat.
That’s the bottom line of a report titled, “Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food.” It was released last week by the federation of public interest research groups known as U.S. PIRG.
By comparison, the advocacy group’s report said, the government over the same period spent a comparatively paltry $262 million on subsidies for apples — the only fruit or vegetable to receive a significant amount of such federal support. That translates annually to $7.36 per taxpayer for junk food ingredients, versus 11 cents per taxpayer for apples.
Or, as the organization also put it, the subsidies equated to buying each taxpayer 19 Twinkies but less than a quarter of one Red Delicious apple.
The analysis calculated subsidies for four common additives in junk food: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch and soy oils, which often are processed into hydrogenated vegetable oils.
“At a time when childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing, it’s absurd that we’re spending billions of taxpayer dollars to make the problem worse,” said Austin Price, an official with the advocacy group’s California affiliate, CALPIRG, said in a news release. “It’s absurd that junk food is subsidized by taxpayers, while fresh fruits and vegetables barely get a bite at the apple.
“At a time when government spending is coming under increasing scrutiny, it’s time for Congress to get its priorities straight,” he added.
Among the report’s other assertions:
- Without significant policy changes, by 2030 half of all Americans will be obese.
- That increase in obesity will cost the nation $66 billion a year in additional health care spending.
- Between 1977 and 1994, Americans increased their daily caloric intake by 206 calories.
- Most of that increase is due to snacking, which currently accounts for 27 percent of the calories American children consume each day.
ROBERT T. NELSON
