America's Food Crisis and Poverty: How U.S. Agricultural Policy Hurts the Poor the Most

Abstract

The U.S. has reached a point where its partiality to commodity crops has created new demarcations of class. The rich produce cheap foods eaten by the poor, who are generally overweight. These foods are bad for health, and expensive to society. Since they are heavily subsidized, they are actually paid for in our taxes anyway, but the true cost to society in form of health care, environment, and safety, is not paid by producers. This is bad for everyone and should be fixed. The law cannot be the only solution. The food policy of the past century has shaped our culture, habit, and dispositions toward food. However, there are certainly certain strides which policy can make in the right direction. The beginnings of change are out there, but they will not come to fruition if concerns about food cannot consolidate political support for reform. [From Conclusion]