The case for sugar beets

Washington Monthly, July-August, 2005 by Charles Peters

American sugar beet farmers are in the news because they are threatened by CAFTA, which may result in reducing the restrictions on the import of foreign sugar. I must admit I have a soft spot in my heart for sugar beets. The reason is that in my seventh grade geography class, when I was asked about the crops grown in a state or country and was in doubt about the correct answers, I found that "sugar beets" was the one most likely to be accepted by the teacher.

It may not have been first, second, or third, but it almost always made the list. Success with that answer meant that "beet sugar" was an absolute lock as an answer to the next question, which was what does the state or country produce?