FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             CONTACT:   Phillip Hayes

Thursday, June 16, 2011                                                                                 202-507-8303

Lansing State Journal Op-Ed: Food Shortages—Do We Have To Learn This Lesson Again?

LANSING, MI—A guest column by WWII veteran Don Keinath in today’s Lansing State Journal discussed food shortages in the 1940s and warned Congress that gutting the country’s current no-cost sugar policy could again result in food rationing.

“The lessons learned years ago when Congress established U.S. sugar policy to wean this country off its foreign dependence and ensure that efficient U.S. producers are filling domestic demand might be coming to an end,” noted Keinath who is also a Michigan sugarbeet farmer.  “Some in Congress have vowed to dismantle America’s sugar policy—which does not cost taxpayers a single dime—and again make us dependent on foreign sugar supplies.”

Keinath’s op-ed coincides with four bills on Capitol Hill aimed at gutting America’s no-cost sugar policy.  “Dependency on food imports, like dependency on oil imports, comes with a price.  And many would argue that price is national security, quality, and jobs,” he wrote.

America’s sugar policy has been widely lauded because it underpins 146,000 jobs and ensures fair prices for growers and a dependable, high quality product for consumers.  It has also run at no cost to taxpayers since 2002 and is projected to remain no cost through at least 2021, according to recent U.S. Department of Agriculture figures.

Keinath’s rationing warning is not hypothetical.  The European Union overhauled its sugar policies in 2005.  Production fell and European consumers became far more dependent on foreign suppliers.  The consequences have been dire. Reuters reported last week, “Some German retailers are limiting the amount of sugar that customers can buy to 4 kilogrammes per purchase due to a shortage.”

Keinath hopes America doesn’t have to relearn this lesson the hard way.  “We are still the envy of the world, and food security will help us stay that way…unless a group of rogue lawmakers jeopardize the masses to help a few food companies make an extra buck,” he concluded.

Apparently, most Americans agree.  A Harris Interactive poll taken last July shows that 95 percent of Americans believe it is important to produce food domestically instead of relying on foreign suppliers.  And, nearly seven in 10 survey respondents said they’d rather buy sugar grown in the United States than overseas even if U.S. sugar cost more.

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For more information about U.S. sugar policy, visit www.sugaralliance.org.