I think that graph and their conclusion is a bit disingenuous. Meat and dairy is subsidized because it costs a lot more to raise animals than plants. If it wasn't then there would be a lot less animal farmers.
Secondly, comparison from salad to big mac is really jumping to conclusions. A head of lettuce will cost half of what a pound of beef will in a grocery store. The reason the Big Mac is cheaper is because they sell a shitload more Big Macs at McDonalds than they do salads (or they're ripping people off for being healthy, one of the two).
I don't necessarily agree that the reason salads are costlier due to subsidies (I only used that since it's the title of the article)...
However, the market obviously can't afford the beef, and if we had a sensible policy to promote healthy foods (really? do we actually need as much artery clogging red meat as we eat????) then the subsidies for meat is a part of the problem.
And that's the point. Fewer animal farmers = less animal products = more fruits/veggies (and lets reduce the massive cereal/grain subsidies while we're at it). Our policy is backwards and flawed.
Personally I'd rather see something that helped curb the amount of processed foods, high in saturated fat, MSG, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, etc. Most of that stuff is worse than most meat is. But I see your point.
I looked at the back of a bottle of sunny delight for the first time today: 98% water and HFCS, less than 2% juice and additives like modified corn starch. But it must be good for you 'cause the label says you get %100 of your RDA of Vitamin C, right?
I honestly think that way too much attention is given to all these various industrial ingredients. The American diet is sick on a broad scale, and fighting fashionable "poison ingredients" isn't winning anything but a few ataboys.
HFCS is an example here, IMHO. HFCS50 is used quite widely in flavored beverages. It's true that HFCS50 has some less than desirable effects on the body. I have asked the following question probably a dozen times to various anti-HFCS people and none of them answer it. Few even respond:
Sucrose is a dimer consisting of a fructose molecule and a glucose molecule held by a weak bond. This bond breaks readily in weakly acidic environments, causing the sucrose to split back into its two monomer components. HFCS50 is a mixture of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Given that they both become the same thing quickly in the stomach, what makes HFCS50 so much worse than sucrose?
It's not HFCS that is bad for people. It's the belief that we're supposed to have access to that much sugar.
I think that graph and their conclusion is a bit disingenuous. Meat and dairy is subsidized because it costs a lot more to raise animals than plants. If it wasn't then there would be a lot less animal farmers.
Sounds like a perfectly fine market force at play to me. Why would we disrupt that?
Also, I don't think history is with you on this one. Cheap access to meat was possible long before cattle subsidies.
A head of lettuce will cost half of what a pound of beef will in a grocery store. The reason the Big Mac is cheaper is because they sell a shitload more Big Macs at McDonalds than they do salads (or they're ripping people off for being healthy, one of the two).
So, you're saying that beef is cheaper than lettuce in wholesale but lettuce is cheaper than beef in retail? If that's the case, you'd seem to be saying that grocery stores set a much higher profit margin on meat than on produce.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
onlyembers
no subject
Date: 2008-02-24 02:27 am (UTC)Secondly, comparison from salad to big mac is really jumping to conclusions. A head of lettuce will cost half of what a pound of beef will in a grocery store. The reason the Big Mac is cheaper is because they sell a shitload more Big Macs at McDonalds than they do salads (or they're ripping people off for being healthy, one of the two).
no subject
Date: 2008-02-24 02:30 am (UTC)However, the market obviously can't afford the beef, and if we had a sensible policy to promote healthy foods (really? do we actually need as much artery clogging red meat as we eat????) then the subsidies for meat is a part of the problem.
And that's the point. Fewer animal farmers = less animal products = more fruits/veggies (and lets reduce the massive cereal/grain subsidies while we're at it). Our policy is backwards and flawed.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-24 02:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-24 04:15 am (UTC)But it must be good for you 'cause the label says you get %100 of your RDA of Vitamin C, right?
no subject
Date: 2008-02-25 04:40 am (UTC)HFCS is an example here, IMHO. HFCS50 is used quite widely in flavored beverages. It's true that HFCS50 has some less than desirable effects on the body. I have asked the following question probably a dozen times to various anti-HFCS people and none of them answer it. Few even respond:
Sucrose is a dimer consisting of a fructose molecule and a glucose molecule held by a weak bond. This bond breaks readily in weakly acidic environments, causing the sucrose to split back into its two monomer components. HFCS50 is a mixture of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Given that they both become the same thing quickly in the stomach, what makes HFCS50 so much worse than sucrose?
It's not HFCS that is bad for people. It's the belief that we're supposed to have access to that much sugar.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-25 04:30 am (UTC)Sounds like a perfectly fine market force at play to me. Why would we disrupt that?
Also, I don't think history is with you on this one. Cheap access to meat was possible long before cattle subsidies.
A head of lettuce will cost half of what a pound of beef will in a grocery store. The reason the Big Mac is cheaper is because they sell a shitload more Big Macs at McDonalds than they do salads (or they're ripping people off for being healthy, one of the two).
So, you're saying that beef is cheaper than lettuce in wholesale but lettuce is cheaper than beef in retail? If that's the case, you'd seem to be saying that grocery stores set a much higher profit margin on meat than on produce.