You are here

Home > Issues >

Stop Subsidizing Obesity

HOW TAX DOLLARS BECOME TWINKIES—Since 1995, $17 billion in subsidies for big agribusiness have gone to common junk food ingredients including high-fructose corn syrup. 

PUT JUNK FOOD SUBSIDIES ON A DIET

Our tax dollars should only go to things that serve the public good, yet we’re handing out taxpayer subsidies to big agribusinesses to help subsidize junk food. Huge, profitable corporations like Cargill and Monsanto are pocketing tens of billions in taxpayer dollars, and turning subsidized crops into junk food ingredients — including high fructose corn syrup. 

These taxpayer giveaways are all the more absurd at a time when one in three kids is overweight or obese, and obesity-related diseases like diabetes are turning into an epidemic.

Obesity Quick Facts:

  • Diets high in saturated fats impair learning and memory.
  • Once an adult problem, diabetes associated with obesity is growing among children.
  • One in three school-age children are overweight or obese.
  • The rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years.

With Congress looking at ways to trim spending and reduce the deficit, cutting this kind of wasteful spending has the potential to bring together allies from across the political spectrum. 

But big agribusiness will fight to protect their billions in subsidies. We know, because in 2008, they spent $200 million lobbying and on campaign contributions. 

No one in Congress wants to be seen standing up for taxpayer giveaways to junk food, and with public concern about obesity and federal spending at all time highs, your support can help us finally beat Big Ag and end subsidies for junk food.

 

Issue updates

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence.

> Keep Reading
Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard.  Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.  These increases in obesity rates will translate into kids who are at greater risk for heart disease and diabetes, undermining the health of our country and driving up medical costs by hundreds of billions of dollars.

> Keep Reading
Report | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Budget

Unlikely Allies Show Super Committee Good Cuts to Avoid Bad Cuts | Jessica Wilson

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Food

Ag Subsidies Pay for 19 Twinkies per Taxpayer, But Only a Quarter of an Apple Apiece

“At a time when childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing, it’s absurd that we’re spending billions of taxpayer dollars to make the problem worse,” said Jessica Wilson “It’s absurd that junk food is subsidized by taxpayers, while fresh fruits and vegetables barely get a bite at the apple.”

> Keep Reading
News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Unlikely Allies Uncover $1 Trillion in Savings for Super Committee

While the two groups have widely divergent views on many tax and fiscal issues, today they have joined forces to identify federal programs that both Republican and Democratic lawmakers should recognize as wasteful and inefficient uses of taxpayer dollars.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence.

> Keep Reading
Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard.  Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.  These increases in obesity rates will translate into kids who are at greater risk for heart disease and diabetes, undermining the health of our country and driving up medical costs by hundreds of billions of dollars.

> Keep Reading
Report | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.

> Keep Reading
Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Toward Common Ground

To break through the ideological divide that has dominated Washington this past year and offer

a pathway to address the nation’s fiscal problems, the National Taxpayers Union and U.S. PIRG

joined together to identify mutually acceptable deficit reduction measures. This report

documents our findings.

 

What follows is a general summary of recommendations that fall into four rough categories:

 

1. $214.9 billion in savings from ending wasteful subsidies,

2. $444.8 billion from addressing outdated or ineffective military programs,

> Keep Reading
Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Toward Common Ground

Our nation faces unprecedented fiscal challenges, as the commitments we’ve made now and into the future far outpace our fiscal capacity. Congress, the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and citizens across the country must grapple with very difficult decisions about how we can put our fiscal house in order. It will be critical to reach out across party lines and across ideological persuasions to achieve common-sense reforms that can bring us closer to balance.

> Keep Reading

Pages

View AllRSS Feed

Tools & Resources

PRIORITY ACTION

Every year, our tax dollars pay for enough corn syrup and other junk food additives to buy 2.8 million Twinkies. It's time to stop subsidizing obesity.

Send an email

Support Us

Your donation supports Georgia PIRG’s work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.

donate today

Consumer Alerts

Join our network and stay up to date on our campaigns, get important consumer updates and take action on critical issues.