So it turns out (O shock, O horror!) that unhealthy processed foods are cheaper than their more salubrious counterparts because they’re made from subsidized crops:
- You Are What You Grow (New York Times)
- Carrying a few extra around the gut area? Blame Congress! (The Liberty Papers)
I love it when two of my interests — in this case, eating well and ranting about government idiocy — come together. Of course, Testosterone Nation (and similar communities) have been saying this for years now:
- Corn-Fed Blubber (Testosterone Nation)
Then again, the physical-culturists have been ahead of the game on a number of other “recent” discoveries (weight training for sports, low-carb diets for fat loss, &c.), so we shouldn’t be terribly shocked.
And, naturally, when the government spends your money to create a problem, it will surely spend your money to address that problem. (Not nearly as much money, of course — after all, if you didn’t have massive social problems, why would you need a government?) For example:
- Funding for Obesity Research (Obesity In America)
Twenty-five billion dollars of subsidized wheat, corn, and soy — and roughly one-fiftieth of that amount in obesity research money. Yeah, that sounds about right.
(But at least farm subsidies help small farms stay afloat and fend off the eee-ville menacing agricorps, right? Not so much, no.)
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