Posted on 09/07/2014 3:57:47 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
If most foods created by the food industry are unhealthy, why not place a stiff tax on all of them and use the revenue to subsidize healthier food?
This bold proposal, from Boston-area researchers, appears as commentary in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The researchers from Tufts University, Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital wrote that their plan would surely meet strong opposition from both the food and restaurant industries but that it could help people make meaningful dietary changes and substantially reduce health care costs.
At issue is the higher cost of healthy food, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats and fish, which cost on average about $1.50 more per person per day compared to unhealthy fare, the researchers said. [12 Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget]
The researchers propose a 10 to 30 percent tax on foods from chain restaurants and on all packaged foods essentially, all foods except products directly from a farm.
"With a modest 10 to 30 percent tax on most packaged foods, healthy foods such as fruits, nuts and vegetables could be subsidized to cost pennies to consumers," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, lead author on the JAMA commentary and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. "This would dramatically reshape the food supply, help to reduce nutritional and health disparities amongst the poor and other disadvantaged Americans, and potentially save billions of dollars a year in health care costs for diet-related diseases."
The researchers noted that the economic burden of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, predominantly caused by a poor diet, is approaching $700 billion annually in the United States alone.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Researcher-Hellbent-For-Nanny State PING!
Invented problem by liberals followed by proposed solution: MORE TAXES.
Repeat.
Sorry folks. It is no ones business what I eat. Do not need the nanny state taking care of me.
Tax everything to reduce everything!
under Socialized medicine they will say that controlling what you eat is a strong factor in keeping the system solvent.
The emerging potential for social control will make us shudder.
It will be far, far beyond Michelle Food.
they will mandate that all food purchases be done using some form of credit card so that the resulting data can be aggregated into one health risk metric for each individual, similar to a credit score.
Could the government spend less if they quit micromanaging our lives and got 80% of their non-value added regulations out of our way?
It will create new jobs: food smugglers.
Ahh! Waiting for the next shoe to fall, am I. This will end in starvation of the masses one day.
.....and just how do they propose to force people to eat the fruit, nuts and vegetables vs. the “unhealthy” packaged food?
Liberals believe that taxing is the answer to everything.
The communist DemocRAT solution to everything. TAX IT! And the drooling low information retards stand around going, “Yup! Yup! Yup!”
they’ll just increase the food stamp allotment.
“If most foods created by the food industry are unhealthy, why not place a stiff tax on all of them and use the revenue to subsidize healthier food? “
Using that same logic, they should tax unprotected male homosexual sex and fund AIDS research with the proceeds.
*facepalm*
I think food companies already pay taxes
If "they" really wanted to, "they" probably already could, for those using credit, debit or EBT cards.
"Oh, gee, Mr. Smith, I see from your purchase history you've already met your allowable maximum of Cheese Puffs and Cherry Coke this month. I'm afraid I won't be able to ring those up for you today. Perhaps you'd like to replace them with something from our vegan and organic aisle?"
We should heavily tax all politicians, then.
I think we’ve already seen how well this retarded idea worked out for Moochelle in our “skools”. Hey, “stupid is as stupid does”. Let’s keep doing it.
I was just thinking that. They are saying diet related health issues cost so much in health care costs. Will the ever go after liberal sacred cows such as health costs of homosexual sex?
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