Just watched the movie "King Corn." Very interesting for anyone interested in US agrinomics and public policy.
Earl Butz, Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon and Ford (1971-1976), was interviewed in the movie. There was some pressure in the US economy during the early 1970s and food prices were climbing; people were scared. He reversed the New Deal policy of stipends encouraging underproduction and established production subsidies. Corn syrup was developed in response to the resulting surplus.
During the interview, he said:
It's America's best-kept secret. We feed ourselves with approximately 16-17% of our take-home pay. That includes all the meals we eat at restaurants, all the fancy doodads we get in our food system... which means we'll spend our surplus cash on something else.
Iowa Senator Charles Grassley was also interviewed, and he pointed out that farmers as a demographic had no economic security and hovered at the poverty line; that was unacceptable for the United States in 1970. He also said:
Society is only 9 meals away from a revolution.
