About 20 yrs ago The NYT Sunday mag had an article (read: op-ed-y piece) that proposed the same about corn.
That is, fed subsidies for corn ultimately made high fructose corn syrup dirt cheap. That price point. made it more appealing to add sweetness to more food products. Or made sweet products (e.g., soda) cheaper.
Lower prices...higher consumption... Hello obesity as a cultural norm.
