Why Record Corn Crop will Cost Taxpayers up to $8.4 billion in Subsidies

[KurtNYC]

4. Yes, there are good reasons why commodity crops are corn, soy and wheat

but root vegetables (carrots and potatoes) are planted and harvested by machines and they were favorites historically because they are easy to store. At one time many houses had "root cellars."

There are many perishable crops that don't have to go to a consumer immediately. For example green beans. A huge percentage of green beans are grown in Kentucky and more than 85% of those are processed as frozen or canned green beans.

People who eat nutrient dense foods are less hungry than those who eat bulk foods. Subsidizing corn helps to perpetuate a system that keeps farmers poor and Americans unhealthy.

Agriculture is a big contributor to carbon output and growing corn to be refined into auto fuels is a multi-layered carbon fest. The commodity food system demands efficiency from farmers and then punishes them (with prices below their costs) for high output. Growing too much corn is wasteful and costly. Ultimately the subsidies keep commodity crop farmers in business but they do just well enough to make it to next year. The guys selling the patented seeds and glyphosate are the indirect winners of the corn subsidy system.