Exhibit 671

Farm Policy and Obesity in the United States (Choices 25(3))

Exhibit 671 · Peer-reviewed article

Farm Policy and Obesity in the United States (Choices 25(3))

We show that U.S. farm subsidies have had generally modest and mixed effects on prices and quantities of farm commodities, with negligible effects on the prices paid by consumers for food and thus negligible influence on dietary patterns and obesity.

The economists examine whether farm subsidies lowered consumer food prices and raised calorie intake. They find subsidies had modest and mixed effects on commodity prices and negligible effects on consumer prices, and attribute the growth of high fructose corn syrup to sugar import policy more than to corn subsidies. Funding stated in the article: a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant and a USDA Economic Research Service cooperative agreement.

Source: J. M. Alston, B. J. Rickard and A. M. Okrent (UC Davis, Cornell, USDA Economic Research Service), published by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
Date: Third quarter 2010
Quoted from: Abstract paragraph, p. 1
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://www.choicesmagazine.org/UserFiles/file/article_138.pdf
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit
Note: J. Agric. Econ.

Cited by

Finding AGR-3.2: Primary record From 2003 through 2011 USDA paid more than $46 billion in direct payments based on historical acreage and production, and $10.6 billion of it went to producers who did not grow the associated crop in the payment year.
Finding AGR-3.14: Peer-reviewed Economists, including one at ERS, found that farm subsidies had modest and mixed effects on commodity prices and negligible effects on consumer food prices, and attributed growth in high fructose corn syrup use to sugar import policy more than to corn subsidies. ERS reports that the farm share of each dollar spent on domestically produced food was 11.8 cents in 2024.