Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by prostoalex on Saturday September 02, 2017 @01:23PM
(#15157150)
> I'd suggest first and foremost subsidizing healthier flours and seeds/nuts
Huge Pandora's box right there with California nut farmers. Basically, way back a bunch of people bought cheap land and then bought politicians to build the water infrastructure to make that privately owned land commercially viable. Now that water supply is unreliable, there's a movement to force the California taxpayers to boost the nut producers' profits, which some people disagree with.
Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by Broken_Hippo on Saturday September 02, 2017 @01:52PM
(#15157306)
I figure that is a different problem. If folks have some foresight on such things, we could make appropriate requirements. Almonds, for example, might be too cost prohibitive to subsidize and they shouldn't be in areas where they are contributing to depleting the water supply.
Quinoa, sunflower seeds, peanuts, poppy seeds, and so on could easily be done.
Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by WalterSear on Saturday September 02, 2017 @01:42PM
(#15157255)
>Finally, an afterthought: We should make sure to make the healthy bread convenient and available, even in a food desert.
Food deserts may not actually be the problem.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/health/research/pairing-of...
Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by Broken_Hippo on Saturday September 02, 2017 @02:00PM
(#15157350)
That's quite interesting, thank you. I'll now correct the information in my brain.
Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by davewongillies on Saturday September 02, 2017 @01:03PM
(#15157032)
Adding to this, desubsidize corn to the point where it no longer makes sense to add HFCS to regular bread that isn't meant to be a dessert.
Re:How Do We Solve America’s Oversupply of Bread?
by Broken_Hippo on Saturday September 02, 2017 @01:57PM
(#15157329)
I have mixed feelings on this - mostly, if we do such a thing, we'll need to replace it with something. I think corn farmers really wouldn't have an issue planting sugar beets instead, so long as the various corn sugars (Including but not limited to HFCS) aren't a byproduct of another process. Without some sort of safety net for farmers, it could really hurt some folks, mostly because I'm assuming different harvesting attachments are used for the two crops and what side industries might be hurt (whatever we use corn cobs for, for example). But I simply don't know the answer to this.
And then add a tax to either the more refined flours (which is likely to make sweet baked goods go up in price as well) or simply tax the more unhealthy white bread and buns so they aren't nearly as affordable.
Edit: I'll mention that some salt is actually good for bread making, as it balances out the yeast. I'm not sure if this is such a problem on an industrial scale since they can control variables much better than the home cook. In addition, it tastes weird without salt. but it doesn't take all that much to satisfy the physical and taste requirements.
Furthermore, I'll advocate for a bit of fat in the bread, though it should come from healthy sources. This helps bread not go stale so quickly, and I'm actually more concerned about unnecessary preservatives.
Finally, an afterthought: We should make sure to make the healthy bread convenient and available, even in a food desert.