You may not realize when you pick up that $3 box of Twinkies at the grocery store that the reason it’s so cheap is you’ve already paid for part of the product.
American taxpayers have been subsidizing some of the ingredients that go into junk-food at an exorbitant rate compared to fresh fruits and vegetables for human consumption, according to a September report.
Out of the $260 billion taxpayers spent on agricultural subsidies between 1995 and 2010, $16.9 billion went toward four common food additives: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and soy oils, according to the “Apples to Twinkies” report by U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group.
During that same timeframe, only $262 million was spent on subsidizing apples – the only significant federal subsidy of fresh fruits or vegetables for human consumption, according to the report.
In fact that entire box of Twinkies costs about the same as one Honeycrisp apple, one of the more expensive apple brands.
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