As data continues to point towards a
decline in the health of people in the United States, it has become
clear that a healthy diet and consistent physical activity has a
positive impact on health.
Many organizations, politicians and
even First Lady Michelle Obama have come out in support of a
healthier diet, consisting of more fruits and vegetables on people’s
plates, instead of the fatty foods many are used to. However, as many
poor and working families have found out, eating healthier is not as
easy as just putting more vegetables on your plate, because the price
of vegetables, especially organic vegetables, is higher than less
nutrient-filled foods.
While all food prices rose
substantially since 2004, the price of the most nutrient-dense foods
has risen the fastest according to Pablo Monsivais, research
scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for Public
Health Nutrition. Nutrient-dense foods are
those that deliver more nutrients per calorie, includingwhole
grains, lean meats, low fat dairy products,
vegetables and fruits.
The study focused on supermarkets in
the Seattle area. They tracked the cost of roughly 380 food items
over the course of four years. They visited Safeway, QFC and
Albertsons stores to document how the prices fluctuated, finding a 30
percent hike in the price of nutrient-dense foods while less
nutritious foods increased 16 percent.
That the price of the healthiest foods
increased the fastest makes a bad situation even worse. In addition
to the higher cost of healthier foods in supermarkets, fast food
restaurants, which many poor working families resort to in their
quest to ‘stretch a dollar,’ offer few or no healthier options.
This attack on poor working communities needs to be confronted.
Obesity-linked illnesses such as heart
disease and diabetes are rampant in the United States and are
especially prevalent in poor, working-class communities. Many of
these diseases previously only found in adults are now common in
children. Promoting a healthier lifestyle is a must, but we also need
to demand that the focus of government subsidies be nutrient-filled
foods in order to make them accessible to all communities, not just
the more affluent ones.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
distributes between $10 billion and $30 billion in cash subsidies to
farmers and owners of farmland each year. The particular amount
depends on market prices for crops, the level of disaster payments
and other factors. More than 90 percent of agriculture subsidies go
to farmers of five crops—wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and cotton.
More than 800,000 farmers and landowners receive subsidies, but the
payments are heavily tilted toward the largest producers.
In addition to routine cash subsidies,
the USDA provides subsidized crop insurance, marketing support and
other services to farm businesses. The USDA also performs extensive
agricultural research and collects statistical data for the industry.
These indirect subsidies and services cost taxpayers about $5 billion
each year, putting total farm support at between $15 and $35 billion
annually.
However, this money—workers’ tax
dollars—is going into the pockets of big farm business, giving them
an advantage over small farmers who produce vegetables and other
crops that are not among the favored five crops.
Farm subsidies transfer the earnings of
taxpayers to a small group of well-off farm businesses and
landowners. Although policymakers love to discuss the plight of the
small farmer, the bulk of federal farm subsidies go to the largest
farms. For example, the largest 10 percent of recipients have
received 72 percent of all subsidy payments in recent years.
Numerous large corporations and even
wealthy celebrities receive farm subsidies because they are the
owners of farmland. It is landowners, not tenant farmers or farm
workers, who benefit from subsidies. And one does not even have to be
the owner of farmland to receive subsidies: Since 2000 the USDA has
paid $1.3 billion in farm subsidies to people who own land that is no
longer used for farming.
For this reason, we must demand that
our tax dollars be spent on supporting healthy foods and not the
health of agribusiness. We must fight for a rational planned economy
that prioritizes peoples’ health, making nutritient-dense foods a
norm for all, not an option for the few. We must fight for socialism!
