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“ We have become a fast food Nation of bulging waistlines and high blood pressures.”,said Ronnie Cummins in his article, “ Tax on Junk Food Can Help Pay the Costs of Diet-Related Diseases.” Diet related obesity,diabetes and heart diseases are now USA’s number 1 public health problems because of non-healthy foods,this is why there should be a tax on junk food,why we should serve healthier lunches in school cafeterias ,and why we should restrict advertisements of junk foods in the mass media.Would taxing junk food ,eating healthier ,and restricting junk food advertisements be so bad if you thought about how many people it could save?

Eating healthy has become a thing of the past. In the essay by Mark Bittman “Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables Instead” offers an idea on how to change the Standard American Diet: making healthy food cheaper and fast, processed food more expensive. Calculating the tax to increase one penny would make a difference in the price and the decision for the people as to whether or not the people are will purchase processed foods. He explains that taxes on carbonated drinks and processed foods should increase due to the amount of money it would bring into the government, and the benefits of a healthier American. Bittman’s results remove chronic health diseases that reinvent the way we eat. In “Nickle and Dimed on Not Getting by in America,”

In paragraph 2, Rachel Cernansky, says, “The big price tag can lead people to assume organic food is better than conventionally grown food.” On the other hand, organic food should not be consumed because of its price. “Besides, she said, why would she want to pay a markup that can run double or triple the cost of conventional food” (Lazarus 14). This statistic shows that organic food is a much higher cost than regular food. In paragraph 20, David Lazarus, stated, “According to Consumer Reports, organic foods and beverages run an average 47% more in price than conventional alternatives. In some cases, the markup can be more than 300%. That’s a hefty difference.” This quote shows how much organic food can be sold for. There is no point in buying organic food that is triple that amount of conventional food. In conclusion, we should not buy food because of its

But as consumers are only willing to pay the extra money for organic food mainly for any health benefits they associate with organic foods, such health benefits should be significant enough to warrant this inflated price. Studies demonstrate that the advantages of organic food are relatively small and even some disadvantages were found. Although correlations were found between a few health benefits and eating organically (reduced risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in subjects who eat organic foods more and mitigation of allergic dermatitis from consuming organic dairy products), these correlations were the only ones found amongst hundreds

Taxing unhealthy food and beverages is practiced internationally and was examined extensively in the 2011 United Nations summit as a means to encourage healthy dietary choices among individuals. As interest in this area grows, more research is needed to study the relationship between food taxation and an individual’s food choice, so informed policy can be created and successfully implemented. Economics plays an important role in persuading an individual to buy a product. As the price of a food product increases, theoretically,

It seems people prefer fast and processed foods because they are available, inexpensive, and contain high caloric content. However, such meals increase susceptibility to some diseases like stroke, obesity, diabetes, heart attack, and coronary heart disorders, which are the primary causes of death among adults. If the main causes of the diseases are unhealthy feeding habits, dominated by reliance on a western diet, then it becomes unfair for the government to spend the citizen’s taxes to cover the cost. So, to overcome the problems and develop a healthy society, the government needs to implement an extra tax on junk foods.

In a society where diseases such as diabetes and obesity are pervasive, action must be taken to combat the diseases. In Canada, Statistic Canada found that almost a third of Canadians aged 5 to 17 is overweight or obese. According to the World Health Organization standards of measurement, 31.5% of 5 to 17 year old Canadians are classified as overweight or obese from 2009 to 2011. With the high rates of obesity in Canadian children, which many affect their quality of life in the future as many diseases will develop as an adult. Canadian doctors attribute to the fact that the food industry has made it easy for Canadians to gain calories. The Canadian government must impose a junk food tax to make sure that accessing junk food and gaining calories will be more difficult. With the junk food tax, the Canadian government will increase tax revenues, Canadians will be able to change their lifestyles and the risk of Canadians having diseases such as obesity and diabetes will be dramatically decreased.

If less people eat junk food, there will be fewer diseases and medical costs will decline. The government will save a lot money by adding taxes on junk food, but also will save many peoples’ lives which is more important and trough this policy the government will interfere in peoples’ food choices in a good way.

Obesity has been a problem in the United States for far too long, and it is time for the government to take action and protect the health of its citizens. This could be accomplished by taxing junk food and subsidizing healthy food, such as fruits, vegetables, and meats. The easiest foods to find and the cheapest foods to buy are foods that contain large amounts of calories and few nutrients (“What’s Behind the Obesity Epidemic”). This means that obesity disproportionately affects poor families (Mitchell, Catenacci, Wyatt, & Hill). In order to redress this issue, the government should put extra taxes on foods with high amounts of calories with few nutrients to act as a deterrent and keep people from buying them. The money gained from the taxes

In 2009, a prestigious think tank in Washington, D.C. proposed a 10% tax on what they called “Fattening food of little nutritional value.” They stated that based on their study, such a tax could raise 500 billion dollars in tax revenue over 10 years, which could be put towards paying off America's ever expanding national debt (Waist). Americans spend an extremely disproportional amount of money on health care costs related to lifestyle diseases. In recent years, Americans spent $190 billion on healthcare related to obesity, which is over one-fifth of total annual healthcare spending (Baird). Because Americans would have more money to spend, a tax on fattening foods and beverages could promote economic growth for private businesses and an increase in revenue for the

The United States of America, a nation that is known for it’s power, independence, and obesity. In the past few decades, this country has been suffering from an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. The government should increase the sales tax on fatty and high-sugar junk food to encourage healthy eating and help the American people. The revenue raised could be used to support greater causes and pay for health care reform. This might be the solution this country needs.

Organic farming began just as the effects of the Great Depression waned in the United States, and has seen a dramatic increase in popularity most recently (AG). The sales of organic food increased by about twenty percent a year throughout the nineteen nineties (Marcus). That is over ten times the rate of increase that conventional food experienced during the same period of time (Harris). As recently as twenty eleven, about seventy-eight percent of American families admitted to routinely purchasing organic food (Organic). Organic food sales jumped from three point five million in nineteen ninety-seven, to thirty-one million in twenty eleven (Organic). However, while organic food may seem better than conventional food, numerous studies have shown that it is not distinguishably more healthful, nutritious, palatable, or safe.

Eating unhealthy foods is one of the major causes of obesity today; but should there be a higher tax on all soft drinks and junk food? Should people be punished for eating what they want? Yes, there are health risks involved with an unhealthy diet but is a higher taxing on these foods the right alternative? With the price of healthcare raising maybe the extra tax could help alleviate it, maybe not. Perhaps the higher tax will turn people away from buying unhealthy foods and drinks. Consuming unwholesome food can lead to clogged arteries, heart attacks and many other fatal illnesses. Buying the healthier substitute may help our

In recent years, many people don’t go more than a few days without hearing about organic foods in one way or another, whether it be through the media, friends or the numerous labels at the grocery store. For me, whenever someone brings up organic foods, they always put them on a pedestal of health caused by people’s recent disgust with the industrialized way we produce foods, which, to be fair, is not unfounded. I had assumed it was a bunch of gibberish, however, the data suggests a more ambiguous answer.

With a growing epidemic of obesity in America, some states and lawmakers have resorted to taking unconventional measures in order to counter the growing issue. Many legislators are debating the effectiveness of a “fat tax” would be on limiting the consumption of soda, high fat foods, and high sugar foods, and ultimately reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The idea is that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption.