Farm Bill's Sugar Subsidy More Taxing Than Sweet, Critics Say

While you indulge in some Easter Peeps and chocolates this weekend, you might want to think about all that sugar. No, this isn't a calorie warning. In the U.S., raw sugar can cost twice the world average. Critics say U.S. sugar policy artificially inflates sugar prices to benefit an exclusive group of processors — even though it leads to higher food prices. But this year, prices fell anyway. Now, the government could be poised to use taxpayer dollars to buy up the excess sugar. American sugar starts where you'd expect: in a field, like Gary Gravois' sugarcane crop in Napoleonville, La. "It's just something in the culture of South Louisiana," Gravois says. "If you're a farmer, that's pretty much what you do." And in the end, that sugar might end up in a jelly bean. Bob Simpson, president of Jelly Belly in California, says it's 40 percent of the product and the "most expensive ingredient." A Sweet Deal? Sugar costs are a complicated combination of import restrictions, production quotas