[DOWNLOAD] "Subsidizing Fat: How the 2012 Farm Bill can Address America's Obesity Epidemic." by University of Pennsylvania Law Review " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Subsidizing Fat: How the 2012 Farm Bill can Address America's Obesity Epidemic.
- Author : University of Pennsylvania Law Review
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 363 KB
Description
INTRODUCTION On a bus in West Philadelphia, a woman feeds her baby an artificial orange beverage from his bottle. The drink costs much less than baby formula, partly because it is mostly comprised of corn--the largest beneficiary of U.S. agricultural subsidies. (1) Currently the least expensive food available is also the most caloric and the least nutritious: a dollar's worth of cookies or potato chips yields 1200 calories, while a dollar's worth of carrots yields only 250 calories. (2) A savvy shopper seeking to satiate her family will naturally seek out these more caloric but less nutritious items. (3) The sticker price is a small fraction of the true cost of highly processed foods, which contain excessive amounts of sodium, fat, and calories that contribute to an estimated $147 billion in annual healthcare costs. (4) Moreover, these products are artificially cheap because their production is subsidized with tens of billions in taxpayer funds each year. (5) Federal agricultural subsidies have provided Americans with high-calorie, low-nutrient processed foods that are less expensive and more readily available than whole grains and produce. (6) Until very recently, poverty was associated with emaciated faces and rail-thin limbs, but today malnutrition persists despite an abundance of cheap calories. (7) Our nation is in the midst of an obesity epidemic that is not only a question of weight, but also implicates serious health conditions caused by poor nutrition such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. (8) The next generation of Americans may be the first in history to have a shorter lifespan than its parents. (9)