Taxes and food prices

Editor,
The Recorder article about food prices and the various components that comprise the prices and which of them can cause increases touched on something I had been thinking about for a while. If it were possible, I would like to see a researcher compile all of the taxes that make up our food costs. Let’s think of one single loaf of bread. The money we spend on that loaf must pay the taxes that are levied on  the grain farmer, sales taxes on his equipment including licenses, the withholding taxes on his employees, taxes on the fuel for his equipment and property taxes on his fields.

The same is true for trucking companies that transport his wheat, the processor that makes flour from his wheat and the bakery that makes our bread.

All along the supply route from the grower to the retailer there are a myriad of taxes levied on the producers, to say nothing of the government regulations and licenses which add to the cost of our food. The fuel and energy taxes alone must contribute a great deal to the finished product.

We often hear the cry, “Tax the corporations, they’re rich.” But, every tax, restriction or “green regulation” on corporations gets passed along to the consumer. So, if you are paying cash for your groceries, think about all those taxes, especially here in California where they are higher than most states, that you are helping to pay.

Wayne White
Porterville