Dear Editor:

(Regarding Ray Judah's Guest Opinion

"Stop Sugar Subsidies" Sept. 27)

The reason the Lee County Commission refused to go along with Commissioner Ray Judah's letter to Congress to end sugar subsidies is probably because the rest of the commission is better informed on the facts than Mr. Judah.

The facts:

• There are NO subsidies in sugar.

• Current sugar policy has run at NO NET COST to the U.S. government (taxpayers) for decades.

• Americans spend more on a tank of GASOLINE than they do on a year's worth of sugar.

• Consumers in other developed countries pay 30 percent MORE for sugar at the supermarket than Americans.

• Food companies pay LESS for sugar - an essential ingredient used in 70 percent of U.S. food manufacturing - today than in 1980, thanks to American sugar policy.

• Sugar policy supports 146,000 essential sugar JOBS in 19 states, including Florida.

And, if Lee County residents are concerned about water quality, they should recognize that the water leaving sugar farms in the Everglades Agricultural Area undergoes the most rigorous water quality clean-up measures anywhere in the state.

In the last decade, sugar farmers have cleaned our water, complied with state and federal regulations, reinvented our businesses to compete with more foreign imports, and invested in the latest sugar technology because we are committed to remaining in the sugar business for the long term. We have and will continue to vigorously support the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and Lake Okeechobee/estuary recovery legislation so that all of us in South Florida can enjoy a clean environment.

I may be an 'old school' farmer and country boy, but I'd bet Lee County has plenty of real issues for its commissioners to tackle closer to home. Perhaps Mr. Judah ought to give up his idea of being the national anti-sugar czar and take care of local business.

Roger Hatton

RC Hatton Farms