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Not only do we pay American farmers to not grow anything, we also pay Brazilian farmers to not grow anything for our right to do so at home. (The WTO fined the

Not only do we pay American farmers to not grow anything, we also pay Brazilian farmers to not grow anything for our right to do so at home. (The WTO fined the US for cotton subsidies. Congress decided to just pay the fines to foreign farmers, rather than touch US farm subsidies.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93United_States_cotton_dispute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93United_States_co... Other fun facts include: 1) The US price fixes raisins, to support farmers at the cost of consumers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Raisin_Reserve http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Raisin_Reserve 2) The US code has a minimum price for sugar. Yes, you can break the law just by selling sugar for less than an amount determined by congress. (Well, nobody in congress reads the thing, so it's probably coming straight from lobbyists.) This is the main reason that everything we buy has corn syrup in it, and not sugar. (Sugar price fixing combined with corn subsidies.) http://sugarreform.org/why-reform/what-the-experts-are-saying/policymakers/ http://sugarreform.org/why-reform/what-the-experts-are-sayin... Many candy factories that used to be in the US have moved to Mexico, because Mexico doesn't price fix sugar. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/04/26/179087542/the-lollipop-war http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/04/26/179087542/the-loll... Experts will dispute this, but I swear Coke (the drink!) and chocolate tastes better everywhere else in the world. In part because they use real sugar and not corn syrup.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
>Experts will dispute this, but I swear Coke (the drink!) and chocolate tastes better everywhere else in the world. In part because they use real sugar and not corn syrup. Of course it does. Everyone knows this. There is a reason people pay extra for Coca Cola imported from Mexico (you can get it in the grocery store in South Texas). Same thing for Dublin Dr. Pepper vs Dr. Pepper.
- dhugiaskmak 13y ago
  http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/the-food-lab-drinks-edition-is-mexican-coke-better-than-regular-coke-coke-taste-test-coke-vs-mexican-coke.html http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/the-food-lab-drinks-ed...
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    Well crap. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/01/buy_up_all_the_dublin_dr_peppe.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/01/buy_up_al...
  - asveikau 13y ago
    This is a really wordy article to express very simple ideas. The author is trying hard to dismiss those of us who prefer the non-corn-syrup taste, but I don't think they've succeeded here. At best they've shown some combination of: * It's a minority of people who prefer the non-corn-syrup taste. * Some people prefer glass bottles. * Most people aren't that conscious of the difference. As to this suggestion to Coca-Cola: > Bottle American HFCS-sweetened Coke in Mexican Coke bottles, and just tell everyone it comes from Mexico. They do sell corn syrup coke in single-serving glass bottles at some places. I have sometimes bought them mistakenly thinking it was the Mexican one. When this happens I taste the difference and don't like it. Corn syrupy beverages just taste unpleasant to me. It took me a while to realize this, but once I did I found I can consciously discern the taste of corn syrup. I have the same objection with bottled sweetened tea, for example. Some brands have corn syrup and some brands have sugar. I tend to like the latter and dislike the former. This has happened to me even when I wasn't aware of the ingredients.
Scaevolus 13y ago
Another reason chocolate tastes better everywhere else in the world is PGPR, an emulsifier derived from castor oil that's been replacing cocoa butter since 2006. Most European food standards heavily restrict the use of vegetable oil in chocolate.
- barrkel 13y ago
  Cocoa butter is a vegetable oil. I take your point, just being pedantic. The trouble I have with US milk chocolate is that it's made with sour milk. It tastes like vomit to European taste buds.
  - Scaevolus 13y ago
    By "heavily restrict" I mean they only allow certain vegetable oils to be used.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

>Experts will dispute this, but I swear Coke (the drink!) and chocolate tastes better everywhere else in the world. In part because they use real sugar and not corn syrup. Of course it does. Everyone knows this. There is a reason people pay extra for Coca Cola imported from Mexico (you can get it in the grocery store in South Texas). Same thing for Dublin Dr. Pepper vs Dr. Pepper.

dhugiaskmak 13y ago
http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/the-food-lab-drinks-edition-is-mexican-coke-better-than-regular-coke-coke-taste-test-coke-vs-mexican-coke.html http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/the-food-lab-drinks-ed...
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  Well crap. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/01/buy_up_all_the_dublin_dr_peppe.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/01/buy_up_al...
- asveikau 13y ago
  This is a really wordy article to express very simple ideas. The author is trying hard to dismiss those of us who prefer the non-corn-syrup taste, but I don't think they've succeeded here. At best they've shown some combination of: * It's a minority of people who prefer the non-corn-syrup taste. * Some people prefer glass bottles. * Most people aren't that conscious of the difference. As to this suggestion to Coca-Cola: > Bottle American HFCS-sweetened Coke in Mexican Coke bottles, and just tell everyone it comes from Mexico. They do sell corn syrup coke in single-serving glass bottles at some places. I have sometimes bought them mistakenly thinking it was the Mexican one. When this happens I taste the difference and don't like it. Corn syrupy beverages just taste unpleasant to me. It took me a while to realize this, but once I did I found I can consciously discern the taste of corn syrup. I have the same objection with bottled sweetened tea, for example. Some brands have corn syrup and some brands have sugar. I tend to like the latter and dislike the former. This has happened to me even when I wasn't aware of the ingredients.

Scaevolus 13y ago

Another reason chocolate tastes better everywhere else in the world is PGPR, an emulsifier derived from castor oil that's been replacing cocoa butter since 2006. Most European food standards heavily restrict the use of vegetable oil in chocolate.

barrkel 13y ago
Cocoa butter is a vegetable oil. I take your point, just being pedantic. The trouble I have with US milk chocolate is that it's made with sour milk. It tastes like vomit to European taste buds.
- Scaevolus 13y ago
  By "heavily restrict" I mean they only allow certain vegetable oils to be used.