...Corn Subsidies Is Concern Corn Subsidies storm has reported a paragraph, due to various pressures, the urgent need for corn reform, the reform of labor pains are inevitable, so the country would like to use subsidies to farmers to compensate for declining revenue problem. I believe we still in a chaos state for subsidies, we do not know how much money to make up, make up and in what way, in what way the actual subsidy growers. Set a national level to protect farmers' income, the formation of market prices, the difference intermediate supply farmers. This year the reservoir is canceled, the lack of temporary storage of the big buyers of support and intervention, corn prices will gradually return to the market price, the farmer sell grain will also follow the market prices, the price is certainly low, as a measure point, market prices and import prices can refer to. Grassroots implementation of public food subsidy system, area verification system, implementation of the card subsidy funds and other funds through a discount payment system. Public subsidies to make use of subsidies transparent, supervision by the masses, and to verify the area, with a card, etc. That directly to paid the subsidies for farmers hands, like subsidies, avoid link subsidies to the peasants " weight "problem appears inadequate. In short, recently years farmers income will be enter to winter, subsidies can only alleviate but can not really change the farmers' income, so farmers need to consider...
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...King Corn Corn is a plant that can grow in various types of climates, making it the top crop grown in the world. However, a certain type of climate is optimal for most efficient production of corn. Corn needs a temperate weather and good soil. These conditions, as well as the use of hybrid seeds, provide a basis for the huge corn industry in the United States. According to Conceicao and Mendoza, “About 90% of corn and soybean exports are accounted for by only three countries: Argentina, Brazil and the USA. Five countries (India, Pakistan, Thailand, USA and Vietnam) account for over 80% of global rice exports.” King Corn follows two best friends from college, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who go to the heartland to figure out what their food is composed of after finding out in a laboratory study that their DNA was mostly made up of corn. They were curious how corn ended up on their hair. After they plant and grow an acre of America's most produced and most subsidized on Iowa soil, they try to find out where the corn goes in the food system and how it is distributed all over America. What they discover shocks them. There are many reasons why there is an overproduction of corn in the United States, including advancements in technology, government subsidies, the cheap price of corn and corn syrup as opposed to grass and sugar. Overproduction of corn leads to overconsumption of the crop, because since corn is so cheap to grow, many try to figure out new ways on how to turn...
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...vary influence prices because of weather and pests. Therefore they are continually seeking to reduce unit costs, hence taking advantage of government subsidies. This leads...
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...Chapter 9 Ethanol Policy and Ethanol Politics David S. Bullock28 The United States is currently passing through one of the most exciting and controversial periods of its energy history. With the US military caught up in armed conflict in the Middle East, and with global warming looming in the minds of many expert scientists as the world’s greatest environmental challenge, a common belief is that it is more important than ever that the US develop sensible and far-sighted energy policy. Politicians’ claims aside, the politics of energy policy are rarely about what is best “for the country.” When government sets energy policy, some people gain, and others may lose. The politics of energy policy, then, are not simply, or even generally, about how to make the nation as a whole better off. Rather, the politics of energy policy are very much about interested political groups struggling against one another. This type of “special interest” politics is nothing new, and not unique to energy policy. Nevertheless, it is widely held among average Americans that the political activities of special interest politics are often bad for the nation as a whole. Because public information is a democracy’s best weapon against harmful special-interest politics, in this chapter we hope to accomplish three goals: 1) to present an outline of the “nuts and bolts” of U.S. ethanol policy; 2) to use economic analysis to examine the effects of ethanol policy, presenting arguments to cut through much of the...
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...Reducing Sugar Consumption Introduction: From large sugar cane fields to acres of beets, sugar is processed into a million dollar industry that satisfies the world’s sweet tooth. However, market failure exists among our society and health. As a public health regulator, I am tracking policies that attempt to reduce America’s sugar consumption in response to the dramatic rise in obesity over the last thirty years. The first target is adults and the sugar beverage industry, particularly, the consumption of regular sodas. I will detail four specific policy proposals that the government should consider on the sale of regular soda: taxes, subsidies, provisions and restrictions. In various outcomes, each policy could provide incentive for individuals toward a healthier lifestyle. Sugar is on the road to becoming America’s next controlled substance. Background: The United States is currently in a dangerous cycle of sugar consumption and disease with nearly two out of every three adults categorized as overweight or obese.(Figure 1,2) Among those characterized, their bodies were given a surplus in calories without an equal response of physical activity. Obesity restricts productivity, lower one’s quality of life, and reduces life expectancy. The excess body fat results in significant health problems such as an increased risk of developing high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, depression and even orthopedic problems. Additionally, the society bears the bulk of the costs associated...
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...search for alternative fuel sources. Is ethanol biofuel a solution and a good alternative? There seems to be more advantages then disadvantages, so yes overall, ethanol is an effective solution. Ethanol is produced from plant matter. The plant matter is broken down into simple sugars and starches and then fermented and distilled into alcohol. Many large farms in the Midwest have planted all or part of their land area to take advantage of the government subsidies which are offered for corn production to supply the ethanol production needs. Ethanol can be used in all cars in low concentrations, such as 10% ethanol. It can be used in specialized cars, trucks and minivans known as “flexible fuel vehicles” in concentrations up to 85% ethanol (commonly known as E85). Fuel stations in the Midwest are offering E85 fuel, often as a lower price per gallon then traditional fuel. There is a lot of controversy on the ethanol biofuel which centers on the cost to tax payers for ethanol subsidies, the environmental concerns focused especially on admissions in the ethanol production process, and the amount of net emission savings. Ethanol contains less energy per gallon than a gallon of gasoline. Meaning, a car will not go as far on a gallon ethanol as it would on a gallon of gasoline. Also ethanol can be more expensive than regular gasoline if the ethanol is purchased outside of the Midwest. According to the American Coalition for Ethanol, this type of fuel offers several benefits...
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...demand. More than 300 million Americans want lots of food, meat especially, and they want it cheap. So like every other production process in this country, our food system has been industrialized to produce maximum food calories for the American people at minimum cost. This industrialization of our food system has allowed for population increase and higher standards of living. But there are significant problems with the industrial food system. Caught up in a drive to maximize production and profit, the industrial food system has grown to an unsustainable size. As food production has become increasingly industrialized, concern for the environment and the animals we eat has taken a backseat to expansion. Specialization, rather than integration, has become Forman 2 the hallmark of America’s farms. Rather than having chickens, hogs, corn, and hay all on one farm, all these things now reside on separate, much larger farms. There is, however, another, very separate food system that supplements the industrial food system: the local food system. Local food systems cater to people who believe that it is better to “buy local” or from a smaller, usually family-owned farm rather than from a...
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...Biofuels and the underlying causes of high food prices Alessandro Flammini October 2008 The development of this report was coordinated by Maria Michela Morese and Jonathan Reeves (Global Bioenergy Partnership Secretariat). The views expressed in this report reflect those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Bioenergy Partnership or those of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. For info: alessandro.flammini@fao.org ACRONYMS ADB Asian Development Bank DDG Dried distillers grains DEFRA Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GHG Greenhouse Gas OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PRC People’s Republic of China UAE United Arab Emirates US United States of America USDA Department of Agriculture of the United States WFP World Food Programme of the United Nations WTO World Trade Organization Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................i BACKGROUND.....................................................................................1 THE CAUSES.......................................................................................4 THE CLIMATE ISSUE ......................................................................... 4 INTERNATIONAL STOCK LEVELS......................................................... 5 INCREASED GLOBAL FOOD...
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...and climate problems by hastily grasping at so called green solutions has resulted in the opposite of what eco-activists have claimed. Biofuels have been promoted as a way of reducing the amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Plants such as sugar cane, corn (maize), wheat and oilseed rape absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. In theory, burning fuels made from them should have no net effect on the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and, therefore, should not contribute to global warming. In Europe, efforts have concentrated on the use of rape seed oil for biodiesel while America has focused its efforts on corn in the short term with a vague promise of a shift to non-food cellulose (wood) sources sometime in the future. The ICSU report concludes that the production of biofuels has increased rather than reduced global warming. In particular, it supports the controversial findings published in 2007 by Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. Dr Crutzen concluded that most analyses had underestimated the impact on global warming of N2O by a factor of three to five. The amount of this gas released by farming biofuel crops such as corn or rape offsets any advantage offered by reduced emissions of CO2. It is bad enough that growing crops for fuel has...
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...Iowa State University Digital Repository @ Iowa State University Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate College 2012 Three essays on biofuel, environmental economics, and international trade Jingbo Cui Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons, Agricultural Economics Commons, Economics Commons, and the Natural Resource Economics Commons Recommended Citation Cui, Jingbo, "Three essays on biofuel, environmental economics, and international trade" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. Paper 12304. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at Digital Repository @ Iowa State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Iowa State University. For more information, please contact hinefuku@iastate.edu. Three essays on biofuel, environmental economics, and international trade by Jingbo Cui A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Economics Program of Study Committee: Harvey Lapan, Co-major Professor GianCarlo Moschini, Co-major Professor Sebastien Pouliot John Schroeter Rajesh Singh Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2012 Copyright c Jingbo Cui, 2012. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION ...
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...had it not joined NAFTA (1.) While the amount of FDI flowing into Mexico increased, this was not accompanied by the expected boost to long-term economic growth. NAFTA aimed to benefit Mexico with by closing the US-Mexico wage gap, boosting job growth, fighting poverty, and protecting the environment. These goals, while honorable, have not been achieved to date. Despite NAFTA’s goal of reducing poverty in Mexico, the country experienced an increase in the percentage of people living in poverty and extreme poverty between 1994 and 1996. In contrast, both of these measures fell throughout the rest of Latin America in the same time period. While the trend of increasing poverty in Mexico was short lived, poverty measures continue to be a concern, and as of 2013, Mexico remains above the average poverty and extreme poverty measures for peer Latin American countries (2.). 20 years of NAFTA has moved the average Mexican household income in the wrong direction, dropping by roughly 15% between 1994 and 2010 in real dollars (3). Other measures of economic success, such as annual growth in GDP per capita, further the notion that NAFTA...
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...in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify energy sources. Although these programs are new to many countries, Brazil has years of experience with sugarcane-based ethanol, creating a success story for others to reference. Currently, Brazil is the largest biofuel market with the United States ringing in a close second. However, Brazil’s ethanol is created from sugarcane while the U.S. uses corn to produce their ethanol. Not only is Brazil’s sugarcane-based ethanol the first renewable fuel to be cost-competitive with transportation fuel, but it is also the most economical compared to its competitors. The ethanol’s efficiency is due to the power of the sugarcane compared to corn as an ethanol feedstock, a perfect climate for sugarcane harvesting, and the large, unskilled, inexpensive labor force in Brazil. In addition, the U.S. uses almost double the amount of land to farm corn to produce ethanol as Brazil uses to harvest sugarcane to produce almost the same volume as ethanol. What is Ethanol? Ethanol is an alcohol fuel distilled from plant materials, such as corn and sugar. Ethanol is the main biofuel for transportation and Brazil is the greatest exporter globally of bioethanol. The sugar and ethanol industry in Brazil make up 2.3% of the Domestic Gross Product, generating 4.5 million jobs for Brazilian citizens. Not only is ethanol responsible for 50% of fuel volume consumed by cars and light vehicles, but it also represents 90% of gasohol, a blend combined...
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...Childhood Obesity ENG 122 April 26, 2012 Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is an ongoing problem that we will all face in our lifetime. We may encounter this from our own experience as being an overweight child, seeing it in our children, their friends or even in our grandchildren. We all need to have a better understanding of childhood obesity. We will start this journey by address a brief history of childhood obesity, short and long-term health concerns, methods for treating obesity, and prevention of obesity in children. The overall purpose will be to foster an understanding of the impact high-fructose corn syrup usage in the last 30 years has had in relation to the childhood obesity epidemic. Childhood obesity is not a new problem but it is becoming an epidemic in the United States. Dr. Fals (2009) writes, “this country has been struggling with obesity for well over 20 years now” (p. 1). Most of us can remember when there was maybe one overweight child in a classroom, now there are two to three instead. The National Center for Health Statistics has been conducting surveys since 1963 relating to obesity among children and adolescents in the United States (Ogden, 2010). This is the only organization that has solid scientific history and statistical data available. It appears that obesity was not tracked on a nationwide level prior to 1963. One reason may be that there weren’t enough cases of childhood obesity to raise any red flags up until the 1960s. Since...
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...in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify energy sources. Although these programs are new to many countries, Brazil has years of experience with sugarcane-based ethanol, creating a success story for others to reference. Currently, Brazil is the largest biofuel market with the United States ringing in a close second. However, Brazil’s ethanol is created from sugarcane while the U.S. uses corn to produce their ethanol. Not only is Brazil’s sugarcane-based ethanol the first renewable fuel to be cost-competitive with transportation fuel, but it is also the most economical compared to its competitors. The ethanol’s efficiency is due to the power of the sugarcane compared to corn as an ethanol feedstock, a perfect climate for sugarcane harvesting, and the large, unskilled, inexpensive labor force in Brazil. In addition, the U.S. uses almost double the amount of land to farm corn to produce ethanol as Brazil uses to harvest sugarcane to produce almost the same volume as ethanol. What is Ethanol? Ethanol is an alcohol fuel distilled from plant materials, such as corn and sugar. Ethanol is the main biofuel for transportation and Brazil is the greatest exporter globally of bioethanol. The sugar and ethanol industry in Brazil make up 2.3% of the Domestic Gross Product, generating 4.5 million jobs for Brazilian citizens. Not only is ethanol responsible for 50% of fuel volume consumed by cars and light vehicles, but it also represents 90% of gasohol, a blend combined...
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...affects all Americans. This legislation has come to be known as the Farm bill, and this year’s is quite possibly the most scrutinized, criticized, and important farm bill that has ever been introduced. So, the question arises: “Why is the farm bill such a controversial issue?” Dan Imhoff answers, “If you eat, pay taxes, care about the nutritional values of school lunches, worry about the plight of biodiversity or the loss of farmland and shrinking open space, you have a personal stake in the tens of billions of dollars annually committed to agricultural and food policies” (18). Now the controversy and social problems—as seen by each side—are introduced. The Farm bill is responsible for funding numerous food related programs, such as subsidies, the food stamp program, and also the farmer’s safety net, to name just a few. Where this money goes and how it is spent reflects what the United States values, and what it is defining as a social problem. Some supporters of this bill maintain that this bill provides financial security not only to agriculturalists but also to consumers as well. They believe that this bill promotes an increased emphasis on of conservation, and that it also encourages efforts to explore the merits of bioenergy. The value placed on conservation, cleaner, more efficient energy sources, and the financial protection of American citizens is paramount to most supporters of the 2007 Farm Bill. Proponents also argue that the bill is necessary for a country to provide...
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