Your point about government subsidies is critical. As I know from my experience growing up in farm country, farming is a risk-intensive business with razor-thin profit margins.

The Department of Agriculture subsidizes and to some extent guarantees returns when farmers plant commodity crops like soybeans and corn, which are primarily used as feed for the animals we eat. Much of the corn, of course, also goes into our processed foods — in ways few of us even realize.

Sugars derived from corn are incredibly cheap because of a combination of government policy and the efficiencies of monocultural agriculture.

Yes, Big Ag is to blame for some of that, but redesigned government policy could change things quite a lot. When I was a kid, farmers were much more likely to plant diverse crops including vegetables and other fresh produce.

But many of those farmers have slowly been bought out by corporations that depend on government subsidies and policies to churn out corn and soybeans for prices that can only makes sense when hundreds of thousands of acres are involved.

We could turn that around. We could prioritize diversity and good national health into our agricultural policy. But it would have to be intentional, and of course reform would face intense corporate resistance.