I saw a documentary last year, but I can't remember the name of it (of course). It was about how the sugar industry became a powerhouse in the 50s/60s by using all sorts of dirty tricks and pumping money into advertising and politicians. Basically, like cigarettes, they did everything they could to make people think sugar was good for you.From my understanding...the reason food companies switched from using real sugar to corn syrup is...greed by the corn industry. A corn farmer developed high fructose corn syrup. And then lobbied government to increase tariffs on imported sugar, so he could sell his new product. Domestic sugar suppliers couldn't meet demand, so here swoops in the corn industry with high-fructose corn syrup to save the day. And now that shit is in everything and poisoning everyone. I don't think trying to get companies back to sugar (and away from high-fructose corn syrup) is the worst idea.
So yeah going back to cane sugar, or sugar beets, isn't really that much better.