How the Federal Government Promotes Obesity

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Most of the new calories in the American diet come from processed foods, and taxpayers have underwritten them since the New Deal with huge price supports for commodity crops like corn and soy.

These are processed into low-quality calories that make their way to consumers as refined starches, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and feed for livestock. Most farmers receiving ag subsidies are actually prohibited by law from growing “specialty crops”—i.e., fruits and vegetables—as protectionism for California and Florida produce growers. Call the 19% of kids who are obese the children of the corn.

An article well worth your time. In a free market for health insurance, people would be deterred from being obese because their premiums would be higher. Also, in a free market there are no price supports for anything.