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the deal with sugar

the deal with sugar

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To understand the overabundance of hfcs, first things first: why sugar is expensive in the US.
When we acquired the Louisiana territory, farmers decided to start growing sugar cane, which was actually not a very good thing to be growing in the not-tropical continental US. So, the government made sure tariffs were imposed on imported sugar so as to not lower the value of slaves working on sugar plantation. And god forbid slave values got lower.
Thus starts the big sugar debacle.
In the 1930s, sugar quotas were imposed as well as the tariffs and subsidies to sugar growers. This has continued to this day, with justification being that congress is “protecting” the American people from international sugar prices. If only that were true: in the past 45 years, only 1 year has the international sugar price been higher than US prices.
We’re not talking 2-3¢ difference here. While sugar sells for 21¢/lb. here in the US, it’s 3¢/lb. worldwide.
The practice of import quotas was abolished briefly in the 70s, but Reagan (the harbinger of republican free-market, eh?) reimposed them to artificially create a shortage, drive up prices, and support American sugar growers.
Oh, this seemed to be a USDA regulation nightmare when, in 1984, something happened that would change everything: Coke and Pepsi announced they were switching to hfcs.
500,000 tons of sugar demand a year was suddenly gone. So much for the control of supply and demand. In 1985, there was an additional 20% cut in the sugar quotas.
Of course there was a way around this: sugar smuggling. Companies would import items of high sugar content that got around the tariffs/quotas/government micromanaging and would sift out the sugar, then sell it at US prices. It garnered a hefty profit, I would think. This was soon abolished with additional restrictions and regulations.
Not surprisingly, this restriction and subsidization inhibits other American businesses, such as American candy producers. The high price of sugar has cut 9000 jobs since 1981. Brach Candy relocated its Chicago factory to Canada (Canada!) because of sugar prices. 10 sugar refineries have closed. Soybean exports have decreased, especially from MN. The rent on farmland is so spendy in the Red River Valley because of sugar beet growers that soybean farmers (which are relatively unsubsidized) can’t find land to grow soybeans. Other countries have limited their American imports, such as Brazil (a biiig sugar country) limiting the grain it imports. The Dominican Republic is producing grains instead of sugar to compete with American farmers.
Meanwhile, there are 13,000 sugar growers in the US, 17 of which receive more than half of the benefits of the sugar subsidies. Nice, huh? And to top it off, a lot of them are growing in areas that aren’t suited to growing sugar. Which begs the question: why are we cyclically driving ourselves into the ground on this sugar thing??
The 1996 farm bill almost passed (217-208) with the sugar subsidies cut out. The sugar lobby in this country is a hard thing to pass up, apparently, because the bill that would cut out the subsidies was actually sponsored by 223 house reps. they got lured away by money from the sugar dudes. And why not lure them away if you can, when you are making more government money than any other country to grow an artificially scarce product?
Oh, this is just the beginning of the ridiculosity. Wait until you hear about corn.

further shopping

further shopping

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I went to the store and found some hfcs-free ketchup: Simply Heinz

Taste test reveals that it’s a bit sweeter, and probably more true-tasting to its ingredients. It has less “tang” and more tomato-y goodness.
I also found some hfcs-free prepackaged choco-chip cookies (mmm) which I’m HOPING didn’t use hfcs-full vanilla. False advertising if they did.
My coworker asked me today what the different between corn syrup and hi-fr corn syrup was today and I had to say, I didn’t know. SO. I did some research.
Apparently, both are broken down by using hydrocholoric/sulfiric acid. YUM think about that next Christmas when those corn-syrupy cookies are sitting out at work. Regular corn syrup has dextrose its sugar, which is about 3/4 as sweet as regular sugar. For those companies that need it SWEEEEET, they add enzymes that convert the dextrose into 42% fructose. For those that want it even sweeeeeeter (pop), I will quote this because I don’t want to condense it:
“To produce corn syrups with a fructose level above 50%, the 42% fructose syrup is passed through a series of fractionation columns, which separate and hold the fructose content. The separated portion is about 80-90% fructose and is flushed from the columns with deionized water. A portion of this is retained and sold for use in “light” foods where only a small amount of liquid sweetener is needed. The remainder is blended with other 42% fructose syrup to produce a 55% fructose syrup, which is used in soft drinks, ice cream, and frozen desserts.”
Ok now that I have the process down, I’m going to start focusing on why corn is such a hot commodity in this country. And how much of a commodity it is.

corn syrup free: a shopping trip

corn syrup free: a shopping trip

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I went to the grocery store last night to look for some appropriate vanilla and to price real maple syrup. I knew I wasn’t going for ice cream 🙁
So, I traveled down the baked-goods aisle and parked in front of the vanilla rack. 5 different choices and guess which version used actual sugar instead of hfcs? That’s right. The 99¢ imitation vanilla by Valu-time. Who’d’ve thunk? Real vanilla, apparently, doesn’t use sugar. I have to use the crappy imitation stuff. You’d think it’d be the other way around.
Onward to the maple syrup section, where I was REALLY excited to see this:

Now No high fructose corn syrup!!
Woohoo! I was all excited until I looked at the ingredients list and saw the first ingredient was…. corn syrup. *Sigh* not what I was looking for. Sure, it isn’t high-fructose, but it’s still corn, which is my main concern. So, if I want to have syrup, I’ll have to dish out the $7 for 12 oz. of real stuff. I’ll jump that hurdle when I want pancakes.
I found a list of what fast-food foods contains hfcs: http://www.foodfacts.info/high-fructose-corn-syrup.shtml
I was right to nix McDonald’s; even their buns contain hfcs!!! Good grief! Which prompted me to go check out my bread, and the current loaf is safe. What a load of poo: I can’t even have a quarter pounder. Which sucks even more since there were a crap-ton of free McDonald’s coupons at work. Ugh! I really want to try their frappe, but I am positive the things are loaded with hfcs. Ah well.
I did some digging and found that one of the “enzymes” they use to break down the kernels is sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid. YUMMY. Just want I want. They don’t use a lot, but it is in there.

a preliminary look

a preliminary look

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I quickly looked through my cupboard and fridge for foods containing high fructose corn syrup, and here’s what I pulled out: chocolate sauce, grape jelly, maple syrup, vanilla, soy sauce, barbeque sauce, Catalina salad dressing (my blue cheese was safe, whew), Worcestershire sauce, karo syrup (surprise surprise), and ketchup. Last week this would have included ice cream.

What surprised me the most? VANILLA!!! Gah!! Granted, it’s “food club” brand, so hopefully I’ll be able to find some vanilla that will work for me, but I was still surprised that “real” vanilla contained hfcs.
A disappointment, but hardly a surprise, and probably the thing I’ll have the most difficulty with: ketchup.
Another one I’ll miss: Pepsi

I drink diet all through the week, and then generally on the weekends I get a 2-liter of regular. HFCS is ingredient #2, right after carbonated water.
There were a lot of things that surprisingly used sugar: frosting, Nutella, and peanut butter to name a few. I thought I was going to have to buy organic peanut butter, but not the case.
I was also going through a mental list of places I eat out regularly: Jimmy’s Pizza, subway, Kay’s kitchen, McDonald’s, 5 Guys. The only one I think I’d have to give up completely because you just don’t know: McDonald’s. And at all places it’ll be sayonara to sugared pop. Since I generally order iced tea when available, I should be ok.
Here’s a link to the mayo clinic hfcs page: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/an01588
The health consequences are really up in the air compared to sugar. But my concern really isn’t the health issue – it’s the economic/social issues. Not to mention that when they make it, they use ingredients during which a person needs to wear safety glasses and gloves. How great is that!
I plan on starting tomorrow, Monday May 3 and go until at least the 31, unless I go insane with trying to find alternatives.

a social experiment

a social experiment

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I watched “King Corn” tonight. In the same vein as “Food Inc.”, I realized that too much of what I eat and drink is just crap. So I’m thinking of doing a social experiment to see if it can be done. Well, I know it CAN be done, but how easily is it done, is the better question, to not consume high fructose corn syrup without going sugar-free (and, in a lesser sense, corn-based food)?
This would also require to me read through the farm bill and bone up on my knowledge in that department. The government subsidizes farms according to how much corn they produce, which in turn produces high amounts of corn on the cheap. Now more than any time in history we have cheap food.
Now, normally I wouldn’t have a problem with cheap food, but since the poverty level is calculated based on the cost of food for a family of four, I see where this has high social impacts. And really? Government subsidies just ruin the idea of a free market.
Not to mention the health impact consuming HFCS has on society. Cheap doesn’t necessarily always mean good. Some guy on “king corn” said the government is producing fast food, not good food.
So, I’m proposing an experiment to see how difficult it is to not consume HFCS while not leading a sugar-free life (this will coincide nicely with my attempt to frequent the farmers’ market more often and my awesome garden I’m growing this summer).
A brief once-over in my pantry and fridge produces ice cream, a 2-liter of Pepsi (*sigh* my weekend indulgence gone unless I find imported Mexican drinkage) and *GASP* bottles of actual corn syrup used for Christmas cookie making.
A little more research is needed, but I think this will result in more homemade (using sugar) goodies instead of store-bought, no sugared pop unless I find a Pepsi throwback (MMMM which I prefer anyway), and making sure to read all the ingredients when I go grocery shopping (ugh). And I’m not going to make Nate do it unless he wants to.
Another large part of the food industry reliant on corn is the beef industry. Grain-fed beef and chicken is the stuff you find in the store because it fattens animals up faster to get to your plate faster. Since I bought my grass-fed quarter cow last year and am hoping to do that again this year, I will mainly focus on chicken.
Watching these documentaries (or hippie-liberal propaganda if that’s what you want to call them) usually just makes me mad. I told Nate tonight that I should just stop watching stuff like this. Unusually insightful, he said: “No. More people need to watch stuff like this. They need to realize how screwed up the government is.”
So, what do you think? What should my goals be? How long should this go on? What do you want to see/read/watch (I am willing to throw stuff on Youtube)?