Nutrient dense & high-fiber foods – like fresh produce and nuts cost more – Let’s address this.
Whether broadly in the Farm Bill…specifically through Ag Appropriations spending…or even through disaster relief bills like the Covid CARES act, federal agriculture funds are incredibly unfair to all consumers and negatively affect our health by making these foods less accessible. It’s clear when the government continues to favor livestock farmers with our taxes that we all must do something about it. That something is change food policy.
CFAP 1 – $11.8 Billion
$10.8 Billion (92%) went to Livestock, Dairy & Livestock Feed
- Livestock – $6.25 Billion
- Milk – $1.83 Billion
- Livestock Feed – $2.76 Billion
Fiber Rich Foods – 21x to 100x less
- Strawberries – $47.2MM
- Broccoli – $29.38 Million
- Pears – $20.27 Million
2020 USDA Farm Spending
In 2020, the USDA spent at least $52 billion on farm programs. $45,687,724,000 direct government payments + $6,318,773,649 crop insurance premium subsidies = $52,006,497,649 US Farm Spending was less than 3% for Fruits and Vegetables Based on publicly available data, AFA estimates that supports for fruits and vegetables, not including soy or peanuts, totaled $1.2 […]
U.S. Farm Spending Diverges from Nutritional Guidelines
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommends making “half your plate fruits & vegetables.” Yet, the DGA also observes that 80-90% of Americans fail to consume the recommended amounts of vegetables and fruits. Meanwhile Americans consume too many refined grains, and for the most part eat adequate amounts of meat, poultry, and eggs. Interestingly, these […]
AFA Invites the Biden Administration to adopt ‘Farm Mobility’ in its Climate-Smart Ag Policy
In response to the Biden administration’s call for comments on Climate-Smart Ag policy, AFA submitted comments that introduce a concept be integrated into wider climate-smart agriculture policy: that of farm mobility. Farm mobility is the ability to change what is produced on a farm, especially as a means to improve environmental impacts and profitability. With […]
US Farm Spending in 2020 Favored Methane Production
Rice, dairy, beef, and pork producers in the United States received an estimated $800 to $2,600 in federal benefits per ton of methane (CH4) emitted in 2020. The EPA estimates annual methane emissions from the agriculture sector at just over 10 million tons per year. This is on par with methane emissions from the entire […]
U.S. 2020 Farm Subsidy Breakdown
2020 was a blowout year for U.S. farm subsidies. Between the trade wars and COVID relief, bailouts soared. In the U.S., subsidies to the agriculture sector typically run around $20 billion per year. In 2020, bailouts rocketed that number to over $50 billion. What exactly is a subsidy, and what exactly are bailouts? At AFA, […]
Soy
In 2020, soybean growers received at least $4 billion in taxpayer supports through soy subsidies, bailouts, commodity protection programs, disaster relief, conservation programs, and subsidized crop insurance. 2020 Soy Subsidy Breakdown by the Numbers $4 billion in taxpayer soy subsidies & bailouts CFAP 1: $513,400,000 CFAP 2: $1,291,829,737 (as of Dec 31, 2020) ARC/PLC : […]
Dairy
For every $1 oat producers got, dairy farmers received $80 in US federal subsidies & bailouts.
Corn
Corn is far and away the most subsidized agricultural product in America. In 2020, corn growers received at least $9 billion in taxpayer supports through bailouts, commodity protection programs, disaster relief, conservation programs, subsidized crop insurance, and trade disruption compensation payments. Subsidy Breakdown by the Numbers $9 billion+ in taxpayer corn subsidies & bailouts CFAP […]
Pork
In 2020, the USDA directed $1.2 billion to hog farmers through direct payments, subsidies, and bailouts. Meanwhile, mushrooms, a popular replacement for pork in recipes like carnitas, were subsidized to the tune of just $7.5 million. That means for every $1 that mushroom growers received, pig farmers received over $160. The U.S. is the third […]
Does the USDA spend more on food crops for humans, or feed crops for animals?
Previously, we’d shown that in 2020, far and away, subsidies and bailouts favored animal production. Before we go on, note the sizeable ‘uncategorized’ portion. That constitutes approximately $13 billion that, as far as we can tell, is untraceable to end products. We’re working on gaining clarity into that number, but for now, all we can […]