New York City’s public health department is taking the war on obesity to a whole new level! The video produced by the health department has the clearest of clear messages – “don’t drink yourself fat.” (Check out their provocative ad here.)
Since I could not embed the video here, let me describe the visual for you. The 30 second clip has a gentleman opening a seemingly harmless can of soda. But what pours into his glass is anything but the bubbly pop you’ve learned to expect. Instead of coke or pepsi or whatever, the guy pours himself a nice full glass of fat. Yeah, that’s right. FAT. And then he proceeds to drink the fat.
The video is provocative and to the point. Be it New York or any other American city, town or village – the numbers are there. That 60% of American adults or youth are overweight and/or obese is a serious statistic. Whether we talk about health care costs or accessible healthy foods, we must recognize that the American diet demands reform. Even if you’re not overweight but drink soda daily, the mass intake of sugar will increase the likelihood of various food-related diseases, i.e. type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc. And yet, any reader of this blog probably knows this stuff (see here and here .) I can’t help but write about obesity and its discontents. The problems are too obvious and disregarded way too often.
Okay, so there is a problem. Now what?
The “solution” gaining the most traction is a soda tax. Currently, there are 30 states taxing soda as part of sales tax. This alone is providing over a billion dollars in revenue; money much-needed in these poor economic times. This current means of revenue adds 5 cents to a 2-liter bottle of soda. Some think this 5 cent increase will rob the poor of their favorite beverage, while others are shocked at the small size of the tax. According to a recent interview on NPR titled, “Soda in America: Taxes and a Debate Over Health,”
Kelly Brownell, at the Rudd Center on Food Policy and Obesity, says thats not enough. He wants new taxes that would boost the price of that same two-liter bottle by almost 70 cents. Brownell says a new tax has to be high if it’s going to change America’s habit of consuming about 50 gallons of sugar-added drinks a year.
Even as some may gawk on the prospect of paying 70 cents more for their incredibly “tasty” sugary pop, studies show that such price hikes are the surest way to even the playing field on healthy food choices. At the moment it seems like whole foods are luxurious next to junk food. But if taxes took the field, those packaged foods would rank second to the real food (i.e. fruit, vegetables, and grains) in the grocery store.
The reality, as far as I’m concerned, is that water is free. It evens comes out of the tap for crying out loud. In my opinion, raise the hell out of the soda costs and use some of that revenue to ensure clean drinking water, or subsidize healthy food, etc.
Soda and all its packaged brethren are killing us. If we can’t ban it from the store, than let’s make it too expensive to consider.
Related posts:
- A Tax on Soda = Illogical Food Policy
- To Tax or Not To Tax? Obesity is the Question.
- Health Eating, Healthy Junk Food?
- Michael Pollan strikes again!
- Urban farming, Low-Income Communities and Burgeoning Dietary Epidemics
Tags: Food Politics, health, subsidies