Taxing Bad Foods

Taxing Bad Foods

Summary

A small "health tax" would make a huge difference.
500 words

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by Eric Armstrong

At TreeLight Health, I write articles about health and the destructive effects that some of the ingredients in the American food supply have on it. I've started up a correspondence with several knowledgable folks as a result of those articles, one of whom is Charles Weber, who knows a heck of a lot about the role of minerals in human health.

In a recent exchange, Charles shared this interesting idea:

"I would like to see Medicare and Medicaid completely funded by a tax on
any food that has had essential nutrients removed or poisons added."

It's a great idea. After, we tax tobacco and alcohol--partly to offset the damage they do, and partly because they're "luxuries" that people can live without so (in theory) the tax only affects discretionary spending.

Such a tax would have several major benefits:

It would provide badly needed funding for Medicare and Medicaid.
It would help to offset the harmful health effects of food processing and harmful additives.
It puts the the burden of cost where it belongs, on those responsible for the health problems they cause. In other words, it is simple corporate justice.
It would give food producers extra incentive to use healthy ingredients. (So they might choose to use butter instead of partially hydrogenated oil, which is less expensive but much more harmful.)
It would give consumers extra incentive to purchase healthy foods, because they're less expensive.

The tax could be applied to fast food restaurants, as well. After all, the things they serve are loaded with harmful ingredients. The revenue from that source alone would go a long way towards dealing with America's health problems--especially the ones we face in the coming decades as the childhood obesity that's characteristic of a nation raised on fast foods turns into adult diseases (diseases that are showing up earlier and earlier these days, according to medical reports).

Of course, both food producers and the fast food industry would object to this tax. Those are two powerful, very well funded organizations that would mount a strenuous counter-offensive. But the science is in. The results are conclusive. Their food-like products are responsible for obesity and human suffering.

Note:
The first lawsuit has been brought against McDonald's for causing obesity and serious health problems. It's originator even points out that, after a month of living on McDonald's food, he got fat, as expected. Was unexpected, though, was the liver and kidney problems he developed. Even more unexpected was the fact that he became addicted to those foods, to the point that it became difficult-to-impossible to return to a healthy diet. Of course, that lawsuit was a favorite topic for late-night talk show jokes. But they laughed at the first tobacco lawsuit, too. The jury is still out.

The bottom line is that such a tax would be very good for the American people, who should be in favor of it. On the other hand, it's not so good for giant food producers, who will undoubtedly oppose it. The question, really, is whether it is corporations or people who are in charge of the American government. The Citizen's Advisory is working to make sure that it is we, the people.

For further thoughts on this subject, see, Taxing Bad Foods is Good for People.

About Eric Armstrong

Eric Armstrong is computer systems designer, writer, and philosopher. He is currently working on a book that uses the principles of General Systems Theory to explain how America's epidemic of obesity and disease stems from profitable, but unhealthy, ingredients in the food supply; how the corporate financial system (and our own retirement plans) are complicit in the problem; how the American political system allows it to happen; and how our problems with the environment, a dwindling standard of living, and even our problems with the global economy all stem from the same constellation of systemic interactions. At www.treelight.com/health, he focuses on nutrition and fitness. At www.citizensAdvisory.org, his forming non-profit is working to get the money out of politics. At www.artima.com/weblogs, he writes about software, web technology, and development tools.

About Citizens' Advisory

Corporate money has hijacked the ballot box. The Citizens' Advisory aims to take it back. Our goal is to put people in charge of the political process. The voting-advice system recommended by the Citizens Advisory lets people choose advisors they trust. Done right, that system will enable multi-party coalitions in cyberspace. The system appeals to voters because it's convenient. It appeals to social activists and their organizations because it levels the political playing the field and empowers them with a stronger political voice.