Cheap food policy: Fact or rhetoric?

The term “cheap food policy” has frequently been used as a descriptor for US commodity programs by those who contend payments to farmers ultimately result in lower food costs for consumers. More recently, farm policy has been criticized for contributing to the obesity problem in the US by making large quantities of fattening foods widely available and relatively inexpensive. This paper econometrically evaluates the impact of direct government payments on the affordability of food in the US in the aggregate and across specific food groups. The models find direct payments do not significantly affect the affordability of food, either in the aggregate or across specific food groups.