by Jayson Lusk
7. www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12804.
8. “Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects,” National Academies Press (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2004), www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10977; American Dietetic Association (ADA), “Position of the American Dietetic Association: Agricultural and Food Biotechnology,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106, no. 2 (2006): 285–93; American Medical Association, Recommendations of Council on Scientific Affairs Reports, AMA Interim Meeting, 2000, http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/csaph/csai-00.pdf.; United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FA), position statement on biotechnology, http://www.fao.org/biotech/fao-statement-on-biotechnology/en/; FAO/World Health Organization, “Safety Aspects of Genetically Modified Foods of Plant Origin: A Joint FAO/WHO Consultation on Foods Derived from Biotechnology,” Geneva, Switzerland, May 29–June 2, 2000, www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/ec_june2000/en/index.html.
9. J. B. Falck-Zepeda, G. Traxler, and R. G. Nelson, “Surplus Distribution from the Introduction of a Biotechnology Innovation,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 82 (2000): 360–69.
10. G. K. Price, W. Lin, J. B. Falck-Zepeda, and J. Fernandez-Cornejo, “The Size and Distribution of Market Benefits from Adopting Agricultural Biotechnology,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Technical Bulletin No. 1906, November 2003.
11. M. Qaim, “The Economics of Genetically Modified Crops,” Annual Review of Resource Economics 1 (2009): 665–93.
12. See table 3 in Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Economic Information Bulletin 11, April 2006. www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib11/eib11.pdf.
13. R. Paarlberg, Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008).
14. Quoted in J. Tierney, “Greens and Hunger, TierneyLab: Putting Ideas in Science to the Test,” New York Times, May 19, 2008, tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/greens-and-hunger/?pagemode=print.
CHAPTER 7: THE FOLLIES OF FARM POLICY
1. M. Pollan, “Farmer in Chief,” New York Times, October 9, 2008. A shorter version appeared on October 12, 2008, on page MM62 of the New York edition, www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?pagewanted=all.
2. M. Bittman, “Don’t End Agricultural Subsidies. Fix Them,” New York Times, March 2, 2011, query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CEFD8133EF931A35750C0A9679D8B63&scp=8&sq=mark+bittman&st=nyt.
3. Pollan, “Farmer in Chief.”
4. M. Bittman, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables,” New York Times, July 23, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24bittman.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&sq=markbittman&st=nyt&scp=5.
5. www.thenation.com/article/163401/resisting-corporate-theft-seeds.
6. Data come from the table “Outlays,” on page 121 of FY2012 Budget Summary and Annual Performance Plan, U.S. Department of Agriculture, www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/FY12budsum.pdf.
7. B. K. Goodwin and A. K. Mishra, “Are ‘Decoupled’ Farm Program Payments Really Decoupled? An Empirical Evaluation,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 88 (2006): 73–89.
8. W. Lin and R. Dismukes, “Supply Response Under Risk: Implications for Counter-Cyclical Payments’ Production Impact,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 28 (2007): 64–86.
9. A. M. Okrent and J. M. Alston, “The Effects of Farm Commodity and Retail Food Policies on Obesity and Economic Welfare in the United States,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 94 (2012) 611–46.
10. J. M. Alston, “Benefits and Beneficiaries from U.S. Farm Subsidies,” AEI Agricultural Policy Series: The 2007 Farm Bill and Beyond, American Enterprise Institute, 2007; D. McDonald et al., U.S. Agriculture Without Farm Support, Research Report 06.10, ABARE (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics), Canberra (September 2006).
11. www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/.
12. For example, see N. Z. Muller, R. Mendelsohn, and W. Nordhaus, “Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy,” American Economic Review 101 (2011): 1649–75.
13. Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (New York: Penguin, 2006), p. 64.
14. M. Duffy and A. Holste, “Estimated Returns to Iowa Farmland,” Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers 68 (2005): 102–109.
15. Julian M. Alston, “The Incidence of U.S. Farm Programs,” The Economic Impact of Public Support to Agriculture, V. E. Ball et al., eds., vol. 7, pt. 1 (New York: Springer, 2010), pp. 81–105.
16. B. E. Kirwan, “The Distribution of U.S. Agricultural Subsidies,” The American Enterprise Institute Agricultural Policy Series, 2007 Farm Bill and Beyond: Summary for Policymakers, Bruce L. Gardner and Daniel A. Sumner, eds., 2007.
17. Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, p. 220.
18. www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/wellbeing/demographics.htm.
19. R. A. Hoppe et al., “Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report,” USDA-ERS, Economic Information Bulletin No. EIB-24, June 2007.
20. Ibid.
21. www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/WellBeing/farmhouseincome.htm.
22. See, for example, www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/farmincome/govtpaybyfarmtype.htm. In this sentence, “small farms” refers to those with less than $50,000 in annual farm sales; large farms have more than $500,000 in annual farm sales.
23. Kirwan, “The Distribution of U.S. Agricultural Subsidies.”
24. www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/november08/Findings/NewPayment.htm.
25. In 2010 the median income of farm households in the United States was over $54,370, increasing 4.1 percent from 2009. By contrast, the median household income of all households in the United States was only $49,445 in 2010, a 2.3 percent decrease from 2009, www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cbll-157.html.
26. Public Interest Research Group, “Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food,” Report released on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. www.uspirg.org/reports/xxp/apples-twinkies.
27. J. M. Alston, D. A. Sumner, and S. A. Vosti, “Farm Subsidies and Obesity in the United States: National Evidence and International Comparisons,” Food Policy 33 (2008): 470–79.
28. J. C. Miller and K. H. Coble, “Cheap Food Policy: Fact or Rhetoric?” Food Policy 32 (2007): 98–111; D. Cutler, E. Glaeser, and J. Shapiro, “Why Have Americans Become More Obese?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 17 (2003): 93–118.
29. Alston, “Benefits and Beneficiaries from U.S. Farm Subsidies.”
30. J. C. Beghin and H. H. Jensen, “Farm Policies and Added Sugars in US Diets,” Food Policy 33 (2008): 480–88.
31. www.ers.usda.gov/data/farmtoconsumer/pricespreads.htm.
32. Data come from the table “Outlays” on p. 121 of “FY2012 Budget Summary and Annual Performance Plan,” www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/FY12budsum.pdf.
33. See data in www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0844.pdf.
34. Bittman, “Don’t End Agricultural Subsidies. Fix Them.”
35. These data are based on the author’s calculations using the 2002 National Pesticide Use Database, at www.croplifefoundation.org/cpri_npu
d2002.htm.
36. The statistics are calculated using the midpoints of the water use ranges reported in table 14, “Indicative Values of Crop Water Needs and Sensitivity to Drought,” in FAO, Irrigation Water Management: Irrigation Water Needs, www.fao.org/docrep/S2022E/s2022e07.htm. For reference, corn requires 13 percent more water than soybeans and wheat requires 4 percent less water than soybeans.
37. www.goodfruit.com/Good-Fruit-Grower/January-1st-2011/Specialty-crops-will-be-on-center-stage/.
38. B. Wolfgang, “ ‘Healthier’ School Lunch at What Cost?” Washington Times, May 16, 2011, www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/16/healthier-school-lunch-at-what-cost/?page=all.
39. F. Santos, “Public Schools Face the Rising Costs of Serving Lunch,” New York Times, September 19, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/education/20lunch.html?_r=1.
40. See J. A. Kropski et al., “School-based Obesity Prevention Programs: An Evidence-based Review,” Obesity 16 (2008): 1009–18.
41. A. Ishdorj, H. H. Jensen, and M. K. Crepinsek, “Children’s Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables: School Meals vs. Home Meals,” paper presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association meeting in Denver, CO, July 27, 2010.
42. D. R. Taber et al., “Banning All Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Middle Schools,” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, published online November 7, 2011, doi:10.1001/archpediatrics .2011.200; J. M. Fletcher, D. Frisvold, and N. Tefft, “Taxing Soft Drinks and Restricting Access to Vending Machines to Curb Child Obesity,” Health Affairs 29 (2010): 1059–66.
43. K. Ralston et al., “The National School Lunch Program: Background, Trends, and Issues,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Economic Research Report No. 61, July 2008, www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err61/err61.pdf.
44. C. Kimball, “Letter from Vermont,” America’s Test Kitchen, January 25, 2012, www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/notes-from-cpk/2012/01/january-letter-from-vermont/.
45. Pollan, “Farmer in Chief.”
CHAPTER 8: THE THIN LOGIC OF FAT TAXES
1. www.cdc.gov/cdctv/ObesityEpidemic/.
2. D. L. Costa and R. H. Steckel, “Long-Term Trends in Health, Welfare, and Economic Growth in the United States,” in R. H. Steckel and R. Floud, eds., Health and Welfare During Industrialization (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997), pp. 47–89.
3. J. E. Oliver, Fat Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 7.
4. The relevant papers are D. B. Allison et al., “Annual Deaths Attributable to Obesity in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association 282 (1999): 1530–38; A. H. Mokdad et al., “Actual Causes of Death in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association 291 (2004): 1238–45; A. H. Mokdad et al., “Correction: Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000,” Journal of the American Medical Association 293 (2005): 293–94; K. Flegal et al., “Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity,” Journal of the American Medical Association 293 (2005): 1861–67.
5. www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf.
6. For accounts of these developments, see P. Campos The Obesity Myth (New York: Gotham, 2004), or Oliver, Fat Politics. On the change in overweight definitions, see www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/guideposts/fitness/optimal.htm.
7. These estimates are inferred from table 2 in K. Flegal et al., “Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity.”
8. Oliver, Fat Politics, p. 4.
9. E. W. Gregg et al., “Secular Trends in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors According to Body Mass Index in US Adults,” Journal of the American Medical Association 293 (2005): 1868–74.
10. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf.
11. A. H. Mokdad et al., “Prevalence of Obesity, Diabetes, and Obesity-Related Health Risk Factors, 2001,” Journal of the American Medical Association 289 (2003): 76–79.
12. www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-myths/.
13. Annual average changes in prevalence rates were taken from www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/prev/national/figage.htm.
14. C. L. Ogden et al., “Prevalence and Trends in Overweight Among U.S. Children and Adolescents, 1999–2000,” Journal of the American Medical Association 288 (2002): 1728–32.
15. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/cda2.htm.
16. dailycaller.com/2012/01/25/nyc-food-police-caught-in-an-ad-lie/.
17. Y. Li et al., “Declining Rates of Hospitalization for Nontraumatic Lower-Extremity Amputation in the Diabetic Population Aged 40 Years or Older: U.S., 1988–2008,” Diabetes Care 35 (2012): 273–77.
18. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus10.pdf#022.
19. E. I. Lubetkin and H. Jia, “Health-Related Quality of Life, Quality-Adjusted Life Years, and Quality-Adjusted Life Expectancy in New York City from 1995 to 2006,” Journal of Urban Health 6 (2009): 551–61.
20. K. M. Flegal et al., “Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999–2008,” Journal of the American Medical Association 303 (2010): 235–41.
21. www.ibtimes.com/articles/177222/20110709/obesity-rates-study-rise-health-robert.htm.
22. Data are in K. M. Flegal et al., “Overweight and Obesity in the United States: Prevalence and Trends, 1960–1994,” International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 22 (1998): 39–47; C. L. Ogden et al., “Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999–2004,” Journal of the American Medical Association 295 (2006): 1549–55; K. M. Flegal et al., “Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999–2008.”
23. First quote is by Bruce Silverglade from CSPI in Brussels at “Generating Excess: A Conference on Diet, Obesity, and Public Policy,” February 3, 2004. The second quote is by Margo Wootan at CSPI, www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112546,00.html.
24. E. Allday, “UCSF Scientists Declare War on Sugar in Food,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 2012, www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/01/BA891NlPQS.DTL.
25. Thomas Sowell, The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy (New York: Basic Books, 1996), p. 203.
26. See J. Bhattacharya and N. Sood, “Who Pays for Obesity?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 25 (2011): 139–58.
27. M. Bittman, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables,” New York Times, July 24, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24bittman.html?scp=5&sq=mark+bittman&st=nyt.
28. Barry Popkin, The World Is Fat (New York: Avery/Penguin USA, 2008), pp. 162–63.
29. K. Brownell, “Get Slim with Higher Taxes,” New York Times, December 15, 1994.
30. www.impacteen.org/obesitystatedata.htm#01.
31. Kuchler et al., “Taxing Snack Foods: Manipulating Diet Quality or Financing Information Programs?” Review of Agricultural Economics 27 (2005): 4–20.
32. H. H. Chouinard et al., “Fat Taxes: Big Money for Small Change,” Forum for Health Economics and Policy 10 (2007): article 2.
33. S. Dharmasena and O. Capps Jr., forthcoming, “Intended and Unintended Consequences of a Proposed National Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Combat the U.S. Obesity Problem,” Health Economics, forthcoming, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1738/abstract; J. L. Lusk and C. Schroeter, “When Do Fat Taxes Increase Consumer Welfare?” Health Economics, forthcoming, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1789/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustom
isedMessage=.
34. R. Sturm et al., “Soda Taxes, Soft Drink Consumption, and Children’s Body Mass Index,” Health Affairs 29 (2010): 1052–58.
35. C. Schroeter, J. Lusk, and W. Tyner, “Determining the Impact of Food Price and Income Changes on Body Weight,” Journal of Health Economics 27 (2008): 45–68.
36. H. H. Chouinard et al., “Fat Taxes.”
37. Bittman, “Bad Food?”
38. http://www.oneidadispatch.com/articles/2011/11/27/news/doc4ed2f432b3335533265968.txt.
39. “Tobacco Settlement: States’ Allocations of Fiscal Year 2003 and Expected Fiscal Year 2004 Payments,” U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), March 22, 2004.
40. M. F. Teisl, N. E. Bockstael, and A. Levy, “Measuring the Welfare Effects of Nutrition Information,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83 (2001): 133–49; K. Kiesel and S. B. Villas-Boas, “Can Information Costs Affect Consumer Choice? Nutritional Labels in a Supermarket Experiment,” International Journal of Industrial Organization, in press; A. C. Drichoutis, R. M. Nayga Jr., and P. Lazaridis, “Can Nutritional Label Use Influence Body Weight Outcomes?” Kyklos 62 (2009): 500–25.
41. J. S. Downs, G. Loewenstein, and J. Wisdom, “Strategies for Promoting Healthier Food Choices,” American Economic Review 99 (2009): 1–10; J. Wisdom, J. S. Downs, and G. Loewenstein, “Promoting Healthy Choices: Information versus Convenience,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2 (2010): 164–78; B. Bollinger, P. Leslie, and A. Sorensen, “Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants,” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 3 (2011): 91–128; B. Ellison, D. Davis, and J. L. Lusk, “The Value and Cost of Restaurant Calorie Labels: Results from a Field Experiment,” working paper, Oklahoma State University.
42. J. S. Downs, G. Loewenstein, and J. Wisdom, “Eating by the Numbers,” New York Times, op-ed, November 13, 2009.
43. www.freakonomics.com/2011/08/26/mandating-calorie-counts-has-libertarian-paternalism-gone-too-far/.
