Taxing Junk Food Research Paper

If your Twinkie costs twenty cents more, would you still eat it? Some people believe that taxing junk food would lower its consumption rate, but in reality, would people be worried if their food costs a tiny bit more? Junk food should not be taxed because it is part of American culture, healthy food is still expensive, and low-income families depend more on junk food. We can choose what kinds of food to put into our bodies, and junk food is part of our culture. For example, according to a food professional and writer of an article called, “Junk-Food Taxes Would Be Unfair and Ineffective,” Pamela Parseghian explains that, “No matter how well funds are invested for improving society, the suggestion of adding federal fat tax is ridiculous.

This just would not make sense. For example, Christina Frangou states in the article, “Growing Debate over Fat Tax,” that, “Among the tax quirks in Canada: a tray of cut fruit is taxed but salty caviar, depending on where it’s bought, is not. A premade salad is taxed but six brownies are not”(Frangou 1). Taxing systems are similar in the US and Canada. Junk food is easier and faster than healthy foods. Healthy choices are more difficult and expensive with our lifestyle in today’s world. For example, in Christina Frangou’s article, “Growing Debate over Fat Tax,” she quotes a normal Canadian mom, who says, “Healthy groceries are so expensive-I’d love it if healthier foods were cheaper” (Frangou 1). Parents want their children to grow up healthy, but that is difficult with healthy foods more expensive than the unhealthy junk food. More improvement would be made if the taxes on healthier foods was lowered, or even just eliminated. It is too hard to live healthy in a country and world that taxes good food. In fact, author of the article, “Hard Times for Soft Drinks,” Margot Sanger-Katz says, “Even as anti-obesity campaigners like Mr. Nutter have failed to pass taxes, they have accomplished something larger. In the course of the fight, they have reminded people that soda is not a very healthy product” (Sanger-Katz 1). You do not need a tax to promote healthiness. We can still do a lot to battle obesity and bad nutrition without the tax. Most people who approve of this say that a tax can help promote healthier choices, but those choices are still going to be expensive for poorer people unless we do something about it. Most people want to be healthy, but that is becoming more complicated for us today than at any other time, just because of our