Freakonomics Radio
Supermarkets and the Cold War
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s battle for agricultural abundance against the U.S.S.R. Our farm policies were built to dominate, not necessarily to nourish — and we are still living with the consequences.
Most concise history seen: as began with need for mucho-farm products in WW-1 --> and WHY the food pyramid was about buying up the millions of bushels of grains--by Govt subsidies/ with nary a Thought as to the NUTRITION-bomb, etc. etc. Read it and weep. GIGO-in-Action.