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Community Corner

Should Junk Food Be Taxed to Make Vegetables Cheaper?

Do you think it will make America healthier? Is this the way to go about trying to make Americans healthier?

If you’re a parent, you know how difficult it is to get your family to eat right. Do you think it would help if people were taxed heavily on items heavy in fat and sugar? Recently, Op-Ed columnist for the NY Times, Mark Bittman, wrote exactly that.

But what do you think? Will it help Americans eat better?

Bittman thinks that if folks had to pay more for foods that we know aren’t good for us, and those tax dollars go towards subsidies to make vegetables cheaper and programs to help educate people on eating properly, it would be a step in getting Americans healthier. 

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I just don’t know.

Have the heavier taxes levied on tobacco products contributed to fewer people smoking?

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Statistics from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids accompanying the article show a decline in smoking rates as the rise in costs have increased, but I don’t know anyone who has quit smoking because it is too expensive.

He suggests we tax “things like soda, French fries, doughnuts and hyperprocessed snacks,” but just how bad does a food have to be to qualify for the tax?

Carbonated beverages are heavily sugared, but many “kid-friendly” drinks have a lot of sugar in them as well. Maybe we should tax every drink but water!

Something needs to be done about the rates of obesity, diabetes and poor cardiovascular health in America – but is taxing certain foods at a higher rate the answer?

What do you think?

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