Federal Farm Subsidies Don't Help, May Hurt, Low-Income Americans

A new study investigates whether US farm subsidy policies help the food consumption and nutritional well-being of low-income Americans. It focuses on the poor, because they are especially vulnerable to changes in food prices. On net, the study finds, the impact of these subsidy programs on US consumer prices is tiny.

It concludes that farm programs do not affect food prices in a way that protects the poor. The people whose incomes are most improved by farm policies are not those at risk of poverty and hunger. The study finds, farm subsidies may compete for budget dollars with federal nutrition assistance programs that help poor people. Government spending on farm subsidies may reduce spending on SNAP and school lunch subsidies, and other food and nutrition programs in the USDA budget.

Source: American Enterprise Institute, 1/9/17, Farm Subsidies