Alyssa Gallagher

You are what you eat, and what you eat is killing you. Each year, the U.S. government

provides billions of dollars in subsidies to the agricultural industry, and the majority of this aid

goes to corn production. On the surface, the goals of this subsidy are to assist rural farmers and

to produce cleaner fuel. The reality of the corn subsidy is that it artificially lowers the price of

unhealthy foods, contributes to the destruction of the environment, and hurts small farmers.

Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are epidemic in the U.S., which is directly related to

the quality of food people have access to and what they can afford. As someone who eats vegan,

I have to read most labels, and the amount of foods that contain corn syrup is astounding. Corn

syrup, unlike cane sugar, is not a naturally occurring substance. Although both are harmful in

large quantities, the sugars from corn syrup are absorbed into the blood stream more quickly.

This essentially acts like poison, especially in the liver. It is also more addicting, and recent stud-

ies have shown sugar addiction to closely resemble cocaine and heroine addiction . However,

since the government provides corn subsidies, foods using corn syrup can be produced and sold

at artificially lowered prices. For many people, this makes it financially unwise or impossible to

buy fruits and vegetables.

Corn subsidies are also causing enormous harm to the environment. Although corn farm-

ers and politicians will claim the ethanol produced by corn is a green fuel, it takes more fossil en-

ergy to farm and process ethanol than the energy it produces and results in a net energy loss of

65 percent by modest estimates. Not only that, but the runoff from the petroleum-based fertilizers

travels down the Mississippi and into the ocean. This has created an area of 7,900-square-mile

dead zone where there is no marine life. In areas where there are still fish and other organisms,

they are contaminated by the pollutants which in turn are ingested by anyone who eats them. The

insecticides used have also been linked to the epidemic levels of bee colony collapse, which

would ironically lead to a total collapse in the ability to farm. In other words, the process of corn

production creates inefficient fuel and is a further detriment to food quality.

Corn subsidies don’t even go to the small farmers that are supposed to benefit from the

aid. Family farms are often excluded, leaving mega-farms to benefit. For example, Monsanto,

one of the largest agricultural companies in the United States and the world, was given a deal

where any farm who bought their genetically modified seeds would receive an insurance break.

This unfairly favors an already giant company and hurts small farmers, especially those who

grow organic and would not be able to buy the seeds.

Corn subsidies benefit very few and harm millions. They contribute to the destruction of

environment, propagate monopolistic business practices, and poison our bodies. We need to stop

funding a corrupt system before it literally kills us.