| theprof00 said: ... |
Well, there's a lot that can be said for agricultural policy. Farmers are heavily subsidized for producing corn. This has the effect of having farmers grow more corn, and fewer carrots/whatever, but it also has an effect as it makes HFCS much cheaper, relative to sugar. Sugar tends to produce more bang compared to HFCS, which means more HFCS is required to create the same level of sweetness.
Soda (and all other products which substitute HFCS for sugar) is far more calorific with HFCS than with sugar. Most sodas in Europe, for example, have more sugar than HFCS, compared to the USA (due to the EU CAP policy favouring sugar over corn), but have fewer calories.
Get rid of the corn subsidies, and you'll go a long way to improving the health of American citizens. First, as sugar will replace HFCS in many products, and second, because of the effect that you described - if the price of shitty food for cows isn't as economically beneficial, more farmers will switch to higher quality feed.
