Essay On Taxing Junk Food

Americans eat approximately 150 to 170 pounds of sugar each year. This translates to about 0.40 to 0.60 pounds eaten each day. Sugar isn’t the only innutritious thing Americans consume, junk food is also a problem. But what is junk food? Junk food is defined as “food that has low nutritional value, typically produced in the form of packaged snacks needs little or no preparation” (Google). Junk food consumption is mainly based on convenience and cost. If healthy food was less expensive and/or had more federal tax grants, Americans might eat less junk food, in my opinion. Which leads to the main point: Unhealthy food should not be taxed because it would be difficult to implement and the results would minimal, making it more work than it is worth. Unhealthy food consumption could lead to diabetes and obesity. Three million people around the world die from obesity each year, and the medical bills come to an astounding $2 billion (Marron, Donald, Gearing, Maeve, Iselin, John). Since these epidemics are at an all time high, health experts think that taxing sugar or unhealthy foods will decrease these conditions. If products with added sugar were taxed, fewer people would buy those products which would improve overall health. This would make healthcare cheaper and …show more content…
Diabetes and obesity rates would decrease, but not a substantial amount. Grocery bills would be higher, creating difficult scenarios for some families to buy their necessities. Educating Americans about their food choices can do much more than taxing junk food. Healthier options should definitely be available just as easily as unhealthy options are. A quote that best suits the decision of whether or not to tax unhealthy food is this: “Putting our money where our mouth is means aligning our economic incentives so that we always serve up the helpful choice” (Drs. Mitchell H. Katz and Rajiv