Changes made to the federal sugar program in the 2008 farm bill have
caused sugar prices to spike to record levels, which hurts businesses,
manufacturers and consumers, a new report from the food and agriculture
consulting company Agralytica shows.
Extra
consumer costs due to the 2008 farm bill have tallied about $3.7
billion each year, according to the report (PDF) released Monday. Currently, sugar prices in
the United States are about 46 cents per pound, which is higher than 28
cents per pound under the 2002 farm bill.
Sugar producers in the
United States and Mexico have responded to the high prices in the U.S.
market by expanding sugar production by 20 percent to 25 percent, said Agralytica’s
Vice President Tom Earley.
The 2008 changes have made “a bad program even worse and have destabilized the U.S.
sugar market,” said Earley, who is also an agricultural economist and
trade policy specialist.
“Now we have too much sugar that’s
driving prices down that’s going to result in significant costs for the
government,” he explained.
The United States is one of the last remaining industrialized
countries that does not mandate disclosure of genetically modified
organisms (GMO) on food labels. But recent state and federal legislation reflects the rallying cry of food advocacy groups calling for the government to give consumers the right to know exactly what they are eating.
Thousands of low-income families throughout Illinois could lose food
aid if Congress passes the deep cuts to federal assistance currently
being proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the
findings of a report released this week.
Obama administration Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has
added to the list of counties classified as disaster areas due to the
historically destructive summer drought. The majority of American
counties are now deemed disaster areas, including 98 of 102 in Illinois, with the
urban and suburban counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will not getting
the designation.
Gov. Pat Quinn pushed
for the disaster designation. After all, it’s hard for government to
immediately respond – neither Obama nor Quinn can make it rain – and the
disaster tag indicates acknowledgement of a serious problem.
Gov. Pat Quinn sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
yesterday, requesting that most Illinois counties be declared disaster
areas because of a record-breaking drought this summer.
Changes made to the federal sugar program in the 2008 farm bill have
caused sugar prices to spike to record levels, which hurts businesses,
manufacturers and consumers, a new report from the food and agriculture
consulting company 
Thousands of low-income families throughout Illinois could lose food
aid if Congress passes the deep cuts to federal assistance currently
being proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the
findings of a 
Obama administration Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has
added to the list of counties classified as disaster areas due to the
historically destructive summer drought. The majority of American
counties are now deemed disaster areas, including 98 of 102 in Illinois, with the
urban and suburban counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will not getting
the designation.