Congress Approves Agricultural Subsidy Bill, Though Differences Remain
Caroline Kitchens, federal affairs manager and a policy analyst with the R Street Institute, says subsidizing agricultural businesses with taxpayer money encourages farmers to grow what the government wants, increasing costs and decreasing the variety of food choices available to consumers.
“In many cases, our farm subsidies create a lot of distortion in the marketplace,” Kitchens said. “They drive up costs for consumers and lead to the type of food supply a lot of consumers do not want. For example, when you think about the crops we that we subsidize most heavily, corn is up there. The emphasis on corn subsidies results in a lot of the high-fructose corn syrup-type foods that American consumers may not want.”
