Wow, Uncle Duke was WAY ahead of the curve in regarding the "Fat Tax"!

[mrstickball]

sethnintendo said:

mrstickball said:

sethnintendo said:

SamuelRSmith said:
How about just ending all the subsidies for corn? That saves money, makes people healthier, and appeases me.

They should subsidize fruits and veggies (the good ones aka not corn which is turned into high fructose corn syrup).  Something is terribly wrong when you can buy 1000+ calories for 1 - 2 dollars of junk food / fast food yet have to spend way more money on what we should be eating in the first place.  The USA food system completely sucks and it is pretty obvious that corporations have led the USA diet to shit while profiting off of junk food that fatties can't resist.

You don't need to do that.

The vast, VAST, majority of subsidies go towards corn and dairy. You remove them, and the price of meat, dairy and cheese goes up. Therefore, by default, the other veggies are going to be significantly cheaper.

Oh, and the government saves billions, rather than spends them.

My line of thinking wasn't that good on that response.  I failed to realize your train of thought.  Your option would have the same results with no government money needed.

I want people to start eating healthier foods.  However, you might as well put a gun to most overweight people's head because they won't eat healthy.  I see most of the overweight people at my job eating terrible everyday while I bring a big container of fruit and a few crackers (I eat my main meals at home).  They are content on being fat because if they weren't then they would at least bring in something healthy to eat everyday. 

Right.

My solution would save money, since we're currently spending billions a year on agriculture subsidies.

The obesity epidemic is (partially) a result of these subsidies. The government subsidizes corn and dairy very heavily. The result is that corn sugar is artificially cheap, therefore soda pop is artificially cheap. Corn is also used in a littany of other unhealthy products, as well as animal feed. You remove the subsidies, then soda, meat, and corn-based foods go up by 20-30% overnight. Take out the dairy subsidies, and the same thing happens there.

Comparatively, I cannot think of a single subsidy given to any fruit or veggie producer. Not one. Since their price remains, you've effectively increased unhealthy food prices by 20-30%, and saved the government billions a year.

Its a win-win.