82R10012 BPG-D
By: Veasey H.C.R. No. 96
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, During the past few decades, obesity has increased
dramatically in the United States, but the agricultural policies of
the federal government continue to make calorie-dense,
nutritionally deficient snack foods far less expensive than
healthy, fresh produce; and
WHEREAS, In the 1970s, the United States Department of
Agriculture ended controls on corn, wheat, and soy production and
replaced them with a policy that paid farmers to grow as much of
these commodity crops as possible; corn subsidies made the
synthetic sugar substitute high-fructose corn syrup cheap and
abundant, and today, HFCS is virtually the only sweetener used in
soft drinks and represents 40 percent of the non-calorie-free
sweeteners added to foods in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Because of subsidies, soft drinks containing HFCS
are 24 percent cheaper today than in 1985; meanwhile, the price of
fruits and vegetables has risen by nearly 40 percent; federal
dietary guidelines recommend that fruits and vegetables represent
one-third of dietary nutrients, but fruits and vegetables cost 100
times more per calorie than HFCS, making it difficult for
budget-conscious families to make nutritious choices; and
WHEREAS, Consumption of HFCS has increased tenfold since
1974; HFCS accounts for more than 80 percent of the 600 calories
added to the diet of the average American in recent decades, and
those additional calories, combined with sedentary lifestyles,
have fueled an obesity epidemic that costs our nation an estimated
$14 billion per year; since 1980, obesity rates in children have
tripled, and an increasing number of children are afflicted with
conditions previously associated with adulthood, such as Type II
diabetes and high cholesterol; more than 70 percent of obese
children will go on to become obese adults with increased risks of
diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers; and
WHEREAS, Corn subsidies today total more than $8 billion a
year, yet policies enacted through the 2008 Food, Conservation, and
Energy Act, better known as the Farm Bill, discourage farmers from
growing fruits and vegetables by excluding these crops from income
support programs and penalizing farmers for harvesting fruits and
vegetables on land receiving subsidies; subsidized commodity crops
represent the majority of cropland harvested in the United States,
and fruits, vegetables, and all other food crops together composed
only six percent of all crop area harvested in 2009; and
WHEREAS, It is incongruous and wasteful for health agencies
to spend millions of dollars countering obesity while the USDA
spends billions to subsidize production of a contributor to this
epidemic; decreasing corn subsidies in order to support fruit and
vegetable farmers would level the playing field and make healthy
food more affordable while reducing the oversupply of high-fructose
corn syrup; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby urge the United States Congress to divert some of the
subsidies currently used for corn production to the production of
fruits and vegetables; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.