Wheat is basic to the American diet and the American economy. It is grown by thousands of farmers and consumed, in various forms, by millions of people in the United States.

The size of the American wheat crop and how it is marketed and ultimately consumed determines whether many Americans receive adequate nourishment. Wheat has a strong impact on the Nation’s well-being. Additional research on the optimal use of wheat products can improve the American diet. Consumer education about the nutritional value and economic use of wheat products can enhance the national welfare.

It has long been recognized that it is in the national interest to have a regular, adequate, and high quality wheat supply. It would be extremely difficult, without an effective coordinated research and nutrition education effort, to accomplish this objective. A programed effort of research and nutrition education is of great importance to wheat producers, processors, end product manufacturers, and consumers.

It is the purpose of this chapter and in the public interest to authorize and enable the creation of an orderly procedure, adequately financed through an assessment, for the development and initiation of an effective and continuous coordinated program of research and nutrition education, designed to improve and enhance the quality, and make the most efficient use, of American wheat, processed wheat, and wheat end products to ensure an adequate diet for the people of the United States. The maximum rate of assessment authorized hereunder represents an infinitesimal proportion of the overall cost of manufacturing wheat end products. Therefore, such assessment will not significantly affect the retail prices of those products. Furthermore, any price effect will be more than offset by the increased efficiency in end product manufacture and increased consumer acceptance, due to nutritional improvements in wheat products, which may be expected to follow from adoption of a plan under this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to provide for control of production or otherwise limit the right of individual wheat producers to produce wheat.

(Pub. L. 95–113, title XVII, § 1702, Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 1031.)