Screw the poor!

Remember the farm subsidy cuts? Well, the corporations have managed to turn them into food stamp cuts, according to Talking Points Memo.

I read an article yesterday about obesity. I don't remember where it was, but it doesn't matter, because it is widely known that in this country, poor people are fatter. Now I completely understand this. During the few fortunate times in my life that I was able to eat well and go to the gym, I was a lot thinner than the times, like now, when I couldn't afford to eat fresh vegetables and go to the gym. I think my metabolism has grinded to a halt because I only eat one meal a day, and it is usually something cheap and processed. All of this, of course, gives me no energy to go out and do some free exercise. I walk to and from work, 20 minutes each way, so I get a little exercise, but not enough to burn off the starch I have to eat to survive.

Why is produce so expensive? FARM SUBSIDIES! But, you may say, fruit and vegetable growers receive no subsidies, and you are right. However, corn and soybean growers do, $15 billion this year, in fact. And we know that corn is used for all of those cheap boxed foods that poor people, like myself, eat. Forget about that food pyramid if you are poor!

Corn and soybeans also are used to make artificial sweeteners and partially hydrogenated oils that the food pyramid urges Americans to avoid. Such oils also are derived from cotton, another heavily subsidized crop.

That disparity points out an awkward truth about the USDA: what it urges people to eat to remain healthy does not match what it pays farmers to grow. more

When Bush announced the cuts in farm subsidies, I was shocked, and most people were skeptical. It was with good reason. Ed Gilgore guessed right about the future of these cuts, saying they would be transferred to food stamps.

Too bad poor people are too busy working two or three jobs to spend time lobbying for themselves.

What democracy?