Essay On Corn Subsidies

QUESTION II

1. Corn Subsidies

Corn subsides began around the time of the Great Depression, which was intended to save the American farmer. Now the subsidies are destroying the very thing they set out to protect. Corn subsidies have grown into an over-burdensome crutch that enables affluent growers and financial institutions to thrive at the expense of taxpayers and local farmers. The subsidies allow farmers to overproduce corn in an effort to artificially maintain low prices.

The U.S. government spends billions of dollars every year subsidizing corn production, livestock feed, processed foods, and ethanol production account for the greatest uses of corn in the United States. Supplying the livestock and processed food industries with cheap corn ultimately leads to an American diet that is heavily based on the consumption of meat and sugary processed foods. This diet is thought to contribute to America’s obesity epidemic. Corn subsidies also encourage production of ethanol. Ethanol may be no better than fossil fuels because of the required energy inputs and the environmental damage caused by its production.

Corn subsidies are driven by the major food and gas companies in our country that want to dictate what food we put in our plate and what fuel we put in our cars. The companies can do this because of the artificially low price tag on the items they sell because of the cheap cost to produce corn. The only concern for the major corporations is to please their respective shareholders by delivering high profits. They are certainly not concerned with the health of the consumer or the environment.

A viable alternative to corn subsidies would be a program that would replace the corn subsidies with a price floor. A price floor would c...

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...in the market. Diversified mid-sized family farms used to produce most of our meat, but now, only a few companies control the livestock industry. This has resulted in driving family farmers out of the market and replacing them with massive confined feeding operations that subject the animals to terrible living conditions that subject our food to contamination. Major food corporations are only concerned with minimizing overhead in order to deliver the consumer cheap food, regardless of the health implications.

In order to right the ship that is America’s food industry, we need to recognize the monopolies in the U.S food industry. These massive food conglomerates must be broken up in order to create competition in the market. This will allow the completion to dictate the market. More companies means more competition, and when companies compete, the consumer wins.