Effective August 28, 1958, the 85th Congress of the United States enacted 7 U.S.C. S 13-1, the Onion Futures Act. The Onion Futures Act is a United States law banning the trading of futures contracts on onions. In 2010 it was amended to also prohibit the trading of futures contracts on motion picture box office receipts, but that part isn't important for the purposes of this petition, and it can stay if congress wants.

With inflation as high as it is, and the price of goods is becoming a burden on the everyday American, it is unfair to subject us to the volatility of a commodity market without access to modern-day financial instruments.

If you look at the prices of some consumer staples over the last year, it's very clear that inflation is here:

• Meat: +14.8%
• Chicken: +13.2%
• Fish: +10.9%
• Eggs: +11.2%
• Milk: +13.3%

Imagine if any one of those consumer staples didn't have futures markets? How much would the prices be up at that point? Double? Triple? More?

You can look to some real world examples, such as what happened in India in 2017. Unhedged volatility in the onion market caused prices to go from $6.12 per 40kg to over $18 for the same lot less than three weeks later.

It's time for us to fix an obsolete law that was passed in 1958 for one bad actor. This law is unfairly impacting the American consumer, and we can fix it quite easily.

Repeal/Amend the Onion Futures Act to allow the trading of onion futures.