Not that we need any more examples of why our political system appears to be severely degraded, if not downright broken, but the combination of purchased elections, politicians, and subsequent legislation; subsidy and protection of a product harmful to human and ecosystem health; and continued frustration of health and environmental goals enacted by the legislature itself make this situation particularly worth noting. An article in the Washington Post outlines the political power of the sugar industry on Capitol Hill, and does not need to be rehashed in its entirety. However, in synopsis, the sugar industry has spent $49 million in campaign donations and lobbying in the last 5 years, outspending all other crop sectors combined (although a relatively small sector itself), and the spending has been spread across the political divide and national regions. The latest version of the Farm Bill being negotiated in Congress preserves the decades-old government subsidies and protections (e.g. limiting imports of cheaper sugar, and taxpayer-backed loans paid in sugar) that boost profits for the sugar sector, and keep prices artificially elevated (3 times the world price), unnecessarily costing consumers billions of dollars and forcing candy companies to shift production overseas (Newsobserver.com).
Our nation's obesity rate has increased dramatically over the past 25+ years. In 1985, no state had an adult obesity rate over 14%, but as of 2010 12 states had obesity rates over 30% (CDC). Two out of three adults, and 1/3 of children are overweight or obese, and the Harvard School of Public Health outlines numerous links between abundant consumption of sugary drinks, such as juices and sodas targeted at children, as a primary cause of this health epidemic. The annual medical costs of obesity in the US were $147 billion in 2008 (CDC), an expense that has clearly been increasing with rates of obesity and contributing to the government's expanding health costs that the Affordable Care Act was designed to combat.
Now, one may argue that protectionism that increases sugar prices to 3 times the world price should raise prices on sugar-based products, and subsequently reduce consumption. However, as mentioned previously, many candy companies shifted production overseas, allowing them to maintain reduced prices on their products, while simultaneously cutting jobs in the U.S. In addition, as indicated by the previously cited Harvard School of Public Health, the volume of sugary drinks has increased through time, i.e. from 6.5 to 12 to 20+ ounce bottles, a source of sugar that does not make people feel as full when consumed for an equivalent number of calories. Purchasing in volume can reduce the cost per unit, a way to overcome higher ingredient prices. The exact opposite has occurred with protectionism and subsidy, the consumption of sugar has increased, 4% of calorie intake from sugary drinks in 1970 to 9% of calorie intake today. The head of the Amsterdam's public health service declared that sugar is an addictive drug that should be tightly regulated (ABC News), and marketing an addictive substance to children with hundreds of ads per year can obviously overcome any price shock to consumers.
The most influential of the sugar barons are the Fanjuls of Palm Beach, Florida. Palm Beach County is home to the 700,000 acre Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), an intensive agricultural area south of the natural source of flow to the Everglades wetland ecosystem, Lake Okeechobee. Once a very productive sawgrass prairie marsh system with 9 foot deep peat soils, the EAA now exists predominantly for the production of sugarcane. The agricultural system is maintained by an extensive and intensive networks of canals and dikes that drains the former wetland and redirects water for irrigation. Sugarcane production is also chemically intensive, requiring large amounts of pesticides and especially fertilizers (DOI). Phosphorous fertilizer inputs for sugarcane production changed the nutrient balance in the Everglades ecosystem, changing function and structure of the ecosystem, and this impact was a major impetus for lawsuits against the State of Florida and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by taxpayers to construct artificial wetlands, i.e. Stormwater Treatment Areas, to filter out the phosphorous and reduce the nutrient load to pre-settlement levels (Earth Magazine). Thus, taxpayers are not just subsidizing and protecting the profitability of sugar, but insidiously subsidizing the flood control, irrigation delivery system, and treatment of waste products produced by the sugarcane industry that all harm the environment.
So the logical answer to these social ills is to stop taking bribes, um...campaign contributions, from the sugar barons; regulate the marketing of sugary products like the drug delivery systems they are; remove the price controls, protectionism, and subsidies; and watch the sugar production industry in the U.S. falters, obesity rates decrease, and the restoration of the Everglades actually progress apace as agricultural land in the EAA is taken out of production, phosphorous discharges decrease, water availability increases, cane fields are sold at low prices, and land is converted to restoration at a much cheaper price than is currently possible. Is such a dreamworld possible. Fat chance...
