A recent report from Ohio PIRG, an independent state-based think tank, finds that Kentucky citizens may not be all to blame for their obesity epidemic. That’s because the federal government subsidizes key ingredients that go into junk food to the tune of $1.28 billion in 2011 alone.

Ingredients such as corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and soy oils are key ingredients in Kentuckians' favorite junk foods – and since 1995, $18.2 billion have gone to clog Kentuckians’ arteries with these substances. That’s 21 Twinkies per Kentuckian!

The point here is not that Kentuckians shouldn’t have the right to pick which foods or substances they wish to ingest, but that the federal government should not be shifting the cost of unhealthy food choices to those who choose to eat healthier.

Currently, Kentucky has the tenth highest obesity rate in the nation – and we now see that the federal government is only exacerbating the problem by subsidizing obesity.