He said
Denmark recently unveiled new taxes on foods containing more than 2.3 per cent saturated fats.
While the idea is good, the execution is poor. Goods that are included under the new tax include packaged and processed foods, but also things like milk and oils.
That isn't the best way to target products that make us unhealthy. Milk probably shouldn't be treated this way, whereas sugary drinks like fruit juice and soda account for a lot more negative health effects.
The problem with a blanket tax like this is that it doesn't consider that just because something is a little fatty, doesn't mean it's bad for you. There are lots of things that contribute to unhealthy people these days. Many are so unhealthy, I've heard this could be the first generation that can expect shorter life expectancies than their parents.
Targeting fat isn't even a very good solution when addressing obesity and poor health. Diets high in sugar and salt are just as bad. Instead of taxing salty products in Canada, we've just asked companies to voluntarily reduce the amount of salt added to them. I'm not sure Campbell's has really gotten on board with that one.
The biggest problem is that food that is good for us is more expensive than food that is not, and that is not the best way to encourage people to make healthy diet choices. Corn is the most subsidized agricultural commodity in the United States, and so corn winds up in almost all of our foods to make them cheaper. Potato chips and soft drinks are beneficiaries of cheap corn, while Brussels sprouts see none of that action.
Foods full of corn syrup could maybe use some higher taxes.
Denmark's extra tax money is supposed to go to obesity-fighting measures, but the tax money should be going right into medical care. Medical costs keep going up, and part of the strain on the medical system is people who make poor dietary choices.
In a system where health care is socialized, there has to be some expectation that everyone makes a commitment to live reasonably healthy lives. Adding tax revenue from unhealthy foods is the same as adding it from the sale of cigarettes. It's necessary to counter the extra costs some people are voluntarily imposing on the medical system.
She said
The "fat tax" in Denmark isn't a bad idea. People love to save their money, and I can think of a handful of people who will probably buy a lot fewer Big Macs if the government demanded a bit more cash for the saturated-fat goodness.
Considering there are actually more people in the world who are obese than who are starving, there's definitely an argument to find a way to encourage healthier eating habits. And because the prices of groceries are already on the rise, this fat tax could have the potential to get people to put down the doughnuts and pick up the oranges. Rising gas prices have definitely had an effect on how often people are travelling, so why would eating fatty food be any different?
CBC posted an article that said that food industry managers see this tax as a "bureaucratic nightmare." I can see why. Here is a government that isn't spoon feeding (punny!) business owners and is actually looking out for the well-being of its population as a whole.
Judging by a poll also on the CBC article, it looks like a lot of Canadians are also in favour of a fat tax. Just over 53 per cent of nearly 1,000 who answered the question "Should Canada introduce a 'fat tax'?" voted "Yes." I guess we're aware that we're all slowly getting fat from spending all of our time typing on our laptops all night long and sitting in classrooms everyday - oh wait, well, maybe not all of us.
The way I see it is that paying more money for better health is a no-brainer. It's essentially the same as my weekly decision not to buy a bag of chocolate chips because I know I will eat them all before I get around to baking them into something delicious. Sometimes good health requires a sacrifice, and the fat tax means we have another reason (because heart health and your waist line don't seem to be enough) to stay away from food that's slowly killing us all. The fat tax could act as a motivator to leave the garbage on the shelves and protect our health.
With this in mind, I'm going to get off my soap box and head to DQ because I am stressed and only Georgia Mud Fudge can fix this.
