Do Farm Subsidies Make People Fat?

Are federal farm subsidies making people fat? If you ask some scientists, nutritionists, and politicians you might hear the answer is a resounding yes. What you won’t hear is any specific data to uphold their belief that farm subsidies directly affects obesity rates. Once again the text book models are based primarily on conjecture. In reality, farm subsidies have had a minimal effect on the prices consumers pay for food and therefore little influence on what people eat. Even though farm commodities have been far more abundant and therefore less costly over the last several decades, that doesn’t reflect a direct impact of farm subsidies. What this does reflect is the simple fact that farming has become more productive due to modern technology. With the main objective being to fight obesity, should we then reign in any further advances in agriculture production? That would just show a lack of good sense. No, the challenge here is to find other ways to fight obesity without eliminating all farm subsidies; to perhaps instead create subsidies for fruit and vegetable growers as well so that the cost for these foods is comparatively lower.