US state wants to tax TVs, video games to fight fat, fund education

[jcp234]

HappySqurriel said:

jcp234 said:
Might be more effective to place a high tax on unhealthy foods, alcohol and cigarettes and subsidize fruit, vegetables and other healthy choices of food.

Unhealthy eating habits are very inexpensive when compared to how costly it is to eat healthy. A lot of unhealthy habits are actually very inexpensive.

Yes and no ...

Inexpensive, highly processed foods tend to be very high in calories and low in nutritional value but they are far from being the only inexpensive foods. Lentils and Beans are very good for you, make excellent meat alternatives and are very cheap; on top of this there are a lot of less expensive cuts of meat that can be worked with to produce very healthy meals, and you can adjust your fruit and vegetable intake to match what is inexpensive durring the season.

 I see your point; however, think of the other components you will need to create a healthy well-balanced meal. I doubt if anyone is going to eat just lentils and beans (and cheaper canned beans tend to be high in sodium which promotes high blood pressure). Once you add the costs of buying individual components for meals..plus the time to prep them....it becomes a bit costly and extra when compared to buying a value meal from McDoanlds at about 4-6 dollars which is convenient and easily accessible.

I'm also not familiar with the price variations of vegetables and fruits? Maybe because I live in the city? But my favorites fruits tend to always be a bit pricy, which sucks considering they don't really last that long (especially bananas).

Even healthier cereals tend to be more costly than unhealthy cereals. A small @zz box of Total Raisin Brand is about the same price as a large box of Frosted Flakes.