Food and Health Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2010 Mar-Apr;29(3):405-10. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0102.
For thirty-five years, U.S. agriculture has operated under a "cheap food" policy that spurred production of a few commodity crops, not fruit or vegetables, and thus of the calories from them. A key driver of childhood obesity is the consumption of excess calories, many from inexpensive, nutrient-poor snacks, sweets, and sweetened beverages made with fats and sugars derived from these policy-supported crops. Limiting or eliminating farm subsidies to commodity farmers is wrongly perceived as a quick fix to a complex agricultural system, evolved over decades, that promotes obesity. Yet this paper does set forth a series of policy recommendations that could help, including managing commodity crop oversupply and supporting farmers who produce more fruit and vegetables to build a healthier, more balanced agricultural policy.
三十五年来，美国农业一直遵循“廉价食品”政策，该政策刺激了少数大宗商品作物的生产，而不是水果或蔬菜，以及由此产生的卡路里。导致儿童肥胖的一个主要原因是摄入了过多的卡路里，其中许多来自于廉价、营养成分低的零食、糖果和甜味饮料，这些食品中的脂肪和糖都来自于这些政策支持的农作物。限制或取消对商品农民的农业补贴，被错误地视为对几十年来促进肥胖的复杂农业体系的快速解决方案。然而，本文确实提出了一系列可能有助于解决问题的政策建议，包括管理商品作物的供应过剩和支持生产更多水果和蔬菜的农民，以建立一个更健康、更均衡的农业政策。
