Many people may be surprised to know that U.S. consumers and businesses pay almost double the average world market price for sugar. The reason is simple – government sugar controls are making that sugar which is used in the production of candy and soft drinks more expensive than it needs to be, because of government price supports, marketing allotments, and import quotas.
Many people have watched good jobs lost because the government guarantees the profits of a relatively small group of growers and producers.
The other day was St. Valentines day. Consumers are expected to spend more than $1.5 billion on candy this holiday alone, second only to Halloween in candy sales.
The current sugar policy in the United States – a system of price supports and import restrictions – cannot be justified on economic or humanitarian grounds.
It imposes high costs on U.S. consumers and taxpayers and causes job losses in the U.S. In addition, the sugar program causes environmental damage and blights economic opportunities for many small farmers in poor countries, primarily for the benefit of a small group of well-off producers.
Today the American public transfers about $1.3 billion each year to support the sugar beet and cane growers in the U.S.
The primary beneficiaries of the program are a few large corporations rather than small family farm operations, as was originally intended.
Sugar is a key ingredient in many foods, besides candy and soft drinks, including whole grain breads, high-fiber cereals, and fruit preserves…
The higher prices have a disproportionate impact on those families, who pay a larger percentage of their income on food. As a result, families with children and people on low and fixed incomes are hit the hardest by the U.S. sugar program…
“It has been estimated that removing protectionist barriers to sugar around the world could lower the price for U.S. consumers by 25 percent from current, artificially high levels”, says Donnie Chambers of Charlotte, N.C. a consumer advocate. “Reducing support in the U.S. could save consumers and taxpayers up to $1.3 billion per year”, he said.
This is nothing new. Back in 1985 the Chicago Times done an article called: The `Unfair` Sugar Subsidy, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-08-10/news/8502220273_1_sugar-beet-growers-import-quota-middle-east
Robert TilfordCharlotte, N.C.
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