Comparing Apples to Twinkies

By: NWHF Staff | Posted on: September 23rd, 2011 | 4 comments | Share: Tweet This!
Categories: Policies & Laws • Food & Nutrition • Public Health

Comparing Apples to Twinkies

by Craig Mosbaek, CHP Contributor

We’ve all heard the admonishment “comparing apples to oranges.”  What about comparing apples to Twinkies? 

CALPIRG and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund just released a report, Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food.  The research looked at the U.S. government agricultural subsidies from 1995-2010.

The subsidies for four food additives used in many low-nutrition, high-calorie foods - corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and soy oils – amounted to almost $17 billion.  In the same time period, the subsidies for apples were less than 2% of that amount, or $262 million.  Apples are the only fresh fruit or vegetable that receive significant federal subsidies.

The next step in their analysis said, “If these agricultural subsidies went directly to consumers to allow them to purchase food, each of America’s 144 million taxpayers would be given $7.36 to spend on junk food and 11 cents with which to buy apples each year.”

Just to make things a little more concrete, they add, “enough to buy 19 Twinkies but less than a quarter of one Red Delicious apple apiece.”

Was this an effective use of numbers to make a point?  Do you have other examples of creative ways to communicate numbers?



4 Comments:

1  Posted by Trey on February 18th, 2013 at 01:54 PM

This is a very interesting post.I think we all should eat healthy food and from time to timpe we should visit Jephry Florist to buy a lovely flower for our home

2  Posted by Danu on December 7th, 2012 at 02:12 PM

It’s easy to see that if you buy five apples you’ll have lower costs then when you buy five package of sweets. And we don’t have to mention that it’s way more healthy, just when we think at all those vitamins and energy from the fruits in general. We must learn how to reduce belongings in every field, it’s important for our personal economy.

3  Posted by Elizabeth on November 6th, 2012 at 10:37 PM

Orange throw pillows looks great with many coordinating listings. They bring happiness and warmth to the room, which is a color represents health, orange throw pillows can be a really unique pieces and introduce an elegant yet youthful design element into your home. Buy yours now!

4  Posted by tea in the kitchen on October 15th, 2012 at 10:31 PM

If a toilet or pan stores the smell after being used to help cook seafood, steam a few green tea leaves in the particular pot or wipe it with employed tea leaves. There is the smell gone before you know it, tea in the kitchen utensils with ill-used tea leaves is usually effective in doing away with oil and dust.



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