Tax Junk Food/Regulate Contents?

[Weedlab]

Michael-5 said:

Weedlab said:

Well, there are many negative consequences related to people's bad eating habits, and unfortunately they can be externalized. Contrary to what some of them may think, their actions do affect others when you look at things at the macro level. I believe that is part of the reason for this ban in the first place. However, I do not support coercing people to do the 'right thing'. From my experience it just doesn't work. People need to discover legitimate reasons on their accord.

I used to consume copious amounts of the stuff when I was in undergrad, and then I was hit with acid reflux. That was the start of other health issues. I traced everything back to my diet and through trial and error I learned what was best for me. Now I do not consume any form of junk food - nothing processed, no fizzy drinks, and I check the label on everything I eat. If I can't pronounce it then I don't bother with it. That's just one example. Most people I know respond to incentives like what I mentioned, but coercion usually brings about the opposite effect.

You do realize that Americans have an obesity rate of 33%? This is nearly 3x the Obesity rate in Germany, nearly 4x the obesity rate of Itally and over 10x the obesity rate of South Koreans and Japanese.

People (specifically Americans, Canadians, English, and Australians) can't discover legitimate reasons to eat healthy on their own.

Wouldn't it be better if you never had that acid refluc in the first place? If food, all food, had more reasonable portions of fat, sugar, and salt, you'd probably be a lot better off. I don't think the best way to stay healthy is for people to get obese and then realize their mistakes. It's better to not make those mistakes at all.

After all, everything is moderation, except moderation itself, is a good thing right? So why not moderate addatives in food?

Weedlab said:
Oh and ... personally, I think instead of implementing a ban focus should be placed on the type of foods available. Calories are cheap, but nutrition is expensive. People often complain about eating right because it is too expensive, especially when you can buy enough food to feed a family for under 10 USD in McDonalds. The gov should focus on making the 'right' food cheaper - be it through subsidies or other means.

This is completly false. A Big Mac Combo is about $7 and that barely feeds 1 person for 1 day. I live off $20 a week for food (I cook a lot), and I can tell you that you can feed a person for about $2 a day no problem. Eating healthy is cheaper then eating crap.

Yes it would have been better if I didn’t have it in the first place, but only in an ideal world. Hardships are necessary to encourage progression, and having acid reflux was no different. It turned me into a conscious consumer with respect to eating, and now I can pass on what I learned to help others. The great majority of people do not alter things unless they hit a critical point. That’s why I believe in incentives and disincentives. I only gave ONE example for how incentives works, and it was a personal experience. I had a health related incentive to change.

People are very ignorant and choose to stay ignorant. In this sense I believe the government should step in, but not with bans or anything coercive (back to incentives and disincentives). Give people an inventive to eat right and disincentives to eating poorly. Where I live taxes are considerably lower on green vehicles and light bulbs than on regular cars and the conventional light bulbs. As a result, people responded and bought more of the former. Telling them it is better for the environment or that it would save them more in the long run did very little, but the tax incentives helped tremendously. Again, just an example, but the concept is much broader.

Are you aware of the Big Mac Index and what it does? Okay … it may be relatively expensive where YOU live, but where I live it is VERY cheap. The cost of a meal from McDonalds is relative from place to place, and the combinations people employ are much different from what you think the average person may buy. I've seen people buy apple pies and a dollar burger for instance. This also extends to healthier foods. It may be relatively cheap where you live, but that doesn't suggest it is cheap in other places. And as I stated before calories (junk food in general) is much cheaper than nutrition, so it’s part of the reason why people consume them. By junk I’m not solely referring to fast food, but cheap processed food you find in the supermarket for next to nothing. I’m not suggesting all health food items are expensive since some are cheap, and I think this goes back to ignorance. People need to be conscious of the cheap healthy foods available. A lot of people are unaware of things like yams, beets and other unconventional foods.

Moderate additives in foods? Could you elaborate here? I don’t want to assume, but if it is what I think you are suggesting then I’m not sure I’d support that notion. My first degree is in nutrition, and I know the unintended health consequences that can bring.