Farm Bill 2023 and Obesity

This study found U.S. farm policies “have generally small and mixed effects on farm commodity prices, which in turn have even smaller and still mixed effects on the relative prices of more‐ and less‐​fattening foods.”Farm subsidy/ ​nutrition issues are hotly debated, and I have not done a detailed research review. If Congress withdrew subsidies from corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice, would U.S. farming shift toward healthier fruits and vegetables? Are the subsidized crops and related oils a cause of obesity, and has the go vernment given Americans bad nutrition advice about these products for decades, asNina Teicholz argues? Would Americans eat healthier if we repealed farm and food subsidies of all types? These are questions policymakers should be exploring.Congressshould repeal farm subsidies because they distort the economy, harm the environment, and unfairly subsidize high earners. But also, with the growing impact of obesity on society, health concerns are another reason to re ‐​think passing a huge lobbyist‐​driven farm bill in 2023.Data Notes: the obesity data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey resultshere,here, andhere. Surveys have not followed a  regular time pattern, so I’ve included years at roughly similar intervals. For the first three time periods, adults are age 20–74.
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs