Why Is a Cheeseburger Cheaper Than a Green Pepper?

Ever wondered why a cheeseburger is cheaper than a green pepper?  Does that seem odd to you?  On one hand you have to grow wheat, make buns, grow corn, use that corn to raise beef, turn that beef into hamburger, milk cows and make cheese out of it, not to mention the ketchup, mustard, pickles..etc.  On the other you have to plant a seed and water it.  


I just came across an article that lists the 9 foods that the american government spends the most money subsidising.  By pumping money into these foods, it keeps the cost down.  While there can be some good reasons for governments to do so (there haven't really been any domestic famines), it also helps explain why the poorest of them can still manage to be chubby.


Here's a list of the foods the government is paying for their people to eat and how much of these the average american will consume in 1 year.  I wonder how far off we are up here in Canada?


Soy bean and sunflower are on the list, but no estimate as to how much people are chowing down.


Sunflower: consumption not listed.
Barley: 203 beers.
Peanuts: 13 lbs of peanut butter.
Cow: 66 lbs of beef (28 of it was ground beef).
Dairy: 106 litres of milk.
Rice: 21 lbs of rice.
Soy: amount consumed not listed.
Wheat: 150 lbs of flour.
Corn: 33 lbs of corn products, of which 20 lbs is high fructose corn syrup consumed in soft drinks.


I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions here.


B