Foods

Report | MassPIRG Education Fund | Foods

Apples To Twinkies 2012

At a time when America is facing an obesity epidemic, crushing debt and a weak economy, billions of taxpayer dollars are subsidizing junk food ingredients. In this report, we find that in 2011, over $1.28 billion in taxpayer subsidies went to junk food ingredients, bringing the total to a staggering $18.2 billion since 1995. To put that figure in perspective, $18.2 billion is enough to buy 2.9 billion Twinkies every year - 21 for every single American taxpayer.

News Release | MassPIRG | Foods

AG SUBSIDIES PAY FOR 21 TWINKIES PER TAXPAYER, BUT ONLY HALF OF AN APPLE APIECE

Boston,  MA – Federal subsidies for commodity crops are subsidizing junk food additives like high fructose corn syrup, enough to pay for 21 Twinkies per taxpayer every year, according to MASSPIRG’s new report, Apples to Twinkies 2012. Meanwhile, limited subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables would buy one half of an apple per taxpayer.

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Sunday, April 8, 2012
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Resource | Foods

Healthy Foods Project Packet

Download this resource for everything you need to know to organize the health foods campaign on your campus.

News Release | US PIRG | Foods

Ag Subsidies Pay for 19 Twinkies per Taxpayer, But Only a Quarter of an Apple Apiece

US PIRG's Apples to Twinkies report finds that billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies to Big Agribusiness favor junk food ingredients over fresh, healthy produce.

VIDEO: Should gov't subsidize crops used in junk food?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011
By Hannah Hutchinson
State Board Chair

CBS News covers US PIRG's "Apples to Twinkies" report.

Foods
Campaign | Foods

Stop Subsidizing Obesity

Our tax dollars should only go to things that serve the public good, yet we’re handing out taxpayer subsidies to big agribusinesses to help subsidize junk food. Huge, profitable corporations like Cargill and Monsanto are pocketing tens of billions in taxpayer dollars, and turning subsidized crops into junk food ingredients—including high fructose corn syrup.

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