A Fat Tax? A story I found last month yet is still relevant.
19 05 2007If junk food cost more, would it discourage you from buying it? That’s the question prompting the idea of a “fat tax,” proposed by Yale University psychology professor Kelly D. Brownell. He suggests slapping a 7 to 10 percent tax on unhealthy foods like chips and soda, hoping to “offset” the higher cost of healthier foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. The money could go toward programs to educate the public on the basics of eating right, and higher prices for empty- calorie foods would lead people to reach for healthier options, he says.
But critics aren’t yet convinced — they argue that similar “sin taxes” on products like alcohol and cigarettes have not had the desired effect. Others say such a tax would penalizes those with the least amount of income by making food more expensive.
It’s a novel idea, but why wait for the government to take action? Start boycotting these foods now! Paying a little more for fruits and veggies buys you and your family good health — and that’s something you can’t put a price on!
Ok if we boycott unhealthy junk food instead of putting a tax on it, then it would make more sense. Say for example one store sold 12 cases on avg of snack cakes with each case containing 12 boxes of snack cakes and sold them for 1.75 a box.that is 21.00 per case. If no one bought that case full of snacks that would mean the rest of the cases would potentially not sell and if there was a pallet of 36 cases of the snack cakes then the snack cake company would take roughly a 756 dollar hit in rejected merchandise just for one store. Now imagine a chain of stores in one town that had four chains that would be about $3024 worth of rejected sales. I would think instead of punishing the consumer by initiating a tax and still rewarding the snack cake company via the trickle down effect, that the company should be penalized. Yes it would mean a loss of wages eventually for the company employees and more importantly may shut the company down if they choose not make a healthier line, however, it would certainly make the corporate junk food companies stand up and take notice if one of their competitors took that drastic of a beating by the consumer.
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What I find funny about this notion, is that politicians would claim that they are imposing the tax as a method of lowering our obesity epidemic. How convenient that it also increases taxes. Why don’t they first make an attempt to stop the price gouging on fat free and healthier options? Maybe that would help decrease obesity, lol.
Sarah that is a darn good point. I have no clue why it is the opposite in the world today. You can buy a package of snack cakes for a dollar yet go to buy bananas and your spending roughly 2 dollars or better by the time you add all the appropriate taxes to them. I would love to see this take a sharp reversal. If I could spend a dollar on some great tasting whole grain bread that would be so awesome. As it is I am buying the cheapest whole wheat bread I can find which at Wal Mart it is about 1.69. Not bad but when you consider that white bread is still drastically cheaper it still boggles the mind.