Why is corn subsidized

Right now in the U. These are things that can be shipped and stored easily, and traded in international commodity markets. But because of the way we manage our subsidies, we end up with A LOT of corn. In , U. Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one. Check out the visual guide to corn subsidies.

So why do we spend so many taxpayer dollars on corn and not, say, organic brussels sprouts? And where do those subsidies come from anyway?

During the good years, you can grow A LOT of corn … but since everyone else is doing the same, there is so much of it on the market that the price crashes and you might have to sell your crop at a loss. The early s brought boom times for U. For one thing, they made whiskey — and lots of it — because it added value to cheap corn, and it was easy to transport and store.

Meanwhile, farmers were over-planting the land they had, setting the stage for bad times to come. Sure enough, those times came in the s. Farm production had spiked in the previous decade, as American farms ramped up to feed war-ravaged Europe.

The resulting grain glut drove the price of food so low that it was basically worthless. To even out these kinds of wild ups and downs, the federal government decided to do something: Enter subsidies. Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth.

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In fact, the bulk of U. More of it goes into the production of ethanol — which is also heavily subsidized — and into the mouths of those cows, pigs, and chickens stuffed into feedlots. Those grains purchased by the feedlots are also federally subsidized, allowing producers to buy grains at below market prices.

Large corporate farms and feedlots also poison waterways, drain aquifers, and pollute the air. Meanwhile, small farmers continue to go broke, thanks to the low cost of foods subsidized by the government for corporate buyers. Even the few companies that provide seeds and equipment for farmers receive their own tax breaks from state governments, while farmers are stuck with the bill of goods sold to them from companies like John Deere and Monsanto.

Does this help feed America? Not really: We still buy most of our food from far-flung places. So why is our government subsidizing this production model?