“A very small number of acres pack a pretty big punch in terms of economic impact.”
American-made sugar is an essential food ingredient and, according to a new study, an essential part of our economy.
Dr. Bart Fischer, renowned agricultural economist from Texas A&M University, recently joined Farm Policy Facts to discuss a new report released by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) that calculated the economic importance of America’s sugar industry. What the AFPC team found is that American sugar production generates $23.3 billion in annual economic activity and supports more than 151,000 jobs. All while providing Americans with a reliable and affordable food staple.
Check out the Unscripted segment by clicking here or the image below.
America’s sugar industry is critical to towns across the country, from the sugarbeet fields in Southern California to the cane sugar refinery in Baltimore, Maryland. As the authors note in their report, in many sugar-growing or processing towns, “the sugar industry is one of the primary economic drivers underpinning the economic sustainability of the local community.”
“The industry is enormously important to all the communities in which it’s located,” Dr. Fischer said on Unscripted. “It kind of just permeates every part of the fabric of those communities.”
Dr. Fischer and his colleagues didn’t just look at the on-farm impacts of growing sugarcane or sugarbeets, they also looked at the upstream economic effects of sugar – such as the small businesses that supply sugar farmers – and the downstream effects – those workers who ensure that sugar is delivered to food manufacturers and grocery stores.
“There are a lot of people though involved up and down the [sugar] supply chain and there are a lot of jobs that ultimately rely, and benefit from, the production that happens out on the farm,” Dr. Fischer said.
Thank you to America’s sugar producers for helping feed our nation and fuel our economy. Check out our Unscripted conversation with Dr. Fischer here and dive into the full report on the economic impact of the U.S. sugar industry here.