2111 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22201
Tel: 703-351-5055 | Fax: 703-351-6698
www.sugaralliance.org
U.S. sugar policy works for
America’s food security…
Sugar is an essential ingredient to America’s food supply—an ingredient
the U.S. would be hard pressed to produce without no-cost sugar policy.
America consumes 10 million tons of sugar a year—or about 60 pounds per American.
And the vast majority of this high-quality sugar is homegrown thanks to no-cost sugar policy.
Domestically-grown sugar is in nearly everything we eat. In fact, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce
says sugar-containing products account for more than 70 percent of all food manufacturing.
America’s sophisticated food manufacturers demand more than 40 types of sugars and syrups.
Without sugar policy, U.S. sugar producers wouldn’t be around to meet such strict demands.
Geographic diversity in sugar production helps avoid supply interruptions and price spikes
that could result from hurricanes or droughts. Thanks to a strong sugar policy, sugar is produced
in 19 diverse states, including facilities near densely populated cities such as New York, San
Francisco, and Washington, DC.
America cannot depend on foreign countries to feed Americans.
The United States learned a hard lesson in World War II when dependence on
foreign sugar forced the U.S. government to ration sugar supplies. Sugar was so scarce
that it was the first food rationed during the war and the last commodity removed from
the rationing list after wartime.
In the 1960s, America once again fell victim to its reliance on sugar imports. Cuba was
America’s top foreign sugar supplier when the imposition of the Cuban embargo sent U.S.
food manufacturers scrambling.
No wonder Congressional support for no-cost sugar policy is building.
Seventy-one of the 100 Senators and 60 percent of House members voted in
favor of the current sugar program, which was enacted as part of legislation backed
by the White House.
A 2005 sugar vote taken by the House of Representatives showed sugar-policy
support to be at an all-time high, with 280 members voting in favor of the current
no-cost sugar program.
America’s Sugar Producers...
Meeting America’s Needs
2111 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22201
Tel: 703-351-5055 | Fax: 703-351-6698
www.sugaralliance.org
No-cost U.S. sugar policy
works for grocery shoppers…
No-cost U.S. sugar policy keeps sugar prices low and stable.
In 1980 and 1990, grocery shoppers paid 43 cents for a pound of sugar. In 2005, America’s
grocery stores were still stocked with 43-cent-per-pound sugar. Factor in inflation, and
Americans paid half in 2005 what they paid for sugar 25 years earlier, thanks to sugar policy.
U.S. shoppers spend just 0.08 percent of their paychecks on a year’s worth of sugar. To put
that into perspective, Americans spend more on 10 gallons of gasoline.
Shoppers in other countries aren’t so lucky. The average retail price for a pound of sugar
in the developed world is 56 cents—30 percent higher than in America.
No-cost sugar policy kept prices low despite last year’s hurricanes.
When hurricanes damaged oil refineries, gas prices nearly doubled. But when Hurricanes
Katrina, Rita, and Wilma wiped out a huge chunk of America’s sugarcane production, retail
prices barely moved—that’s because U.S. sugar policy gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture
the flexibility it needed to quickly address supply interruptions.
No wonder Congressional support for no-cost sugar policy is building.
Seventy-one of the 100 Senators and 60 percent of House members voted in favor of the
current sugar program, which was enacted as part of legislation backed by the White House.
A 2005 sugar vote taken by the House of Representatives showed sugar-policy support to
be at an all-time high, with 280 members voting in favor of the current no-cost sugar program.
90
80
77
70
58
60
U.S. Retail Sugar Prices:
Low by World Standards
56
(¢/lb, refined sugar basis)
49
50
43
43
42
Australia
U.S.
Canada
40
30
20
10
0
Japan
European Developed
Russia
Union Country Average
Source: "Retail and Wholesale Prices of Sugar Around the World in 2004," LMC International, Ltd.,
Oxford, England, June 2005.
2111 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22201
Tel: 703-351-5055 | Fax: 703-351-6698
www.sugaralliance.org
No-cost U.S. sugar policy works
for American taxpayers…
Zero. Zip. Zilch. U.S. sugar policy doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.
America’s sugar farmers don’t receive government subsidy checks under U.S. sugar
policy. And for a taxpayer investment of zero, grocery shoppers enjoyed sugar prices that were
as low in 2005 as they were when Jimmy Carter was president.
In fact, since the 2002 Farm Bill took effect, sugar policy has generated $239 million in net
revenues for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
No-cost sugar policy frees up scarce federal dollars.
Some sugar opponents want to change sugar policy’s no-cost provision—a move that
would cost American taxpayers billions of dollars a year during times of budget cutbacks and
would likely force Congress to divert funding from other agricultural commodities.
No wonder Congressional support for no-cost sugar policy is building.
Seventy-one of the 100 Senators and 60 percent of House members voted in favor of the
current sugar program, which was enacted as part of legislation backed by the White House.
A 2005 sugar vote taken in the House of Representatives showed sugar-policy support to
be at an all-time high, with 280 members voting in favor of the current no-cost sugar program.
Government Net Outlays for Sugar and All
Other Commodity Programs, 2002-2007
-Million dollars-
21,257
20,273
17,509
20,231
Sugar
15,810
All Other
10,514
61
-130
2002
0
0
-86
-84
2003
2004
2005
2006E
2007E
Data source: USDA/FSA, February 2006. Negative figures = net revenues.
America’s Sugar Producers...
Meeting America’s Needs