The Fry Tax

727 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Obesity and its effects on americans

Americans are overweight. 27.2% of us are considered obese, and that percentage climbs a little more every year. This trend doesn't just effect those that are obese, it effects us all. It touches each of us in a place that many of us hold most dear; our wallets. We all pay to subsidize the added medical costs by paying higher insurance premiums. What if we could change that? What if by simply increasing the price of certain foods, we could: save lives by reducing the obesity rate, lower healthcare costs and provide more community recreation centers? You can. By imposing a tax on all servings of unhealthy foods, America would be able to lower its obesity rate, thus lowering insurance premiums, and could use those funds to build community centers and activity areas.
Although I believe we should tax all unhealthy foods, to make things simpler, let's just look at taxing one of America's favorite foods; french fries. On average, each American consumes twenty-nine pounds of french fries every year. At just around three hundred sixteen million Americans, that's a lot of fries! What if we imposed a tax on french fries making them more expensive? Instead of french fries holding their normal ninety-nine cent price tag, they were three dollars a serving. They would no longer be looked at as a must-have or staple when accompanying a hamburger. They would become what most expensive food becomes, a treat or luxury for most. Yes, you'll always have those that will be able to afford three dollar a serving french fries for every meal if they'd so choose. For most Americans, however, the increased price would be cost prohibitive.
Now that french fries have been classified as a luxury, what happens? Americans stop eating as much of them. Th...

... middle of paper ...

...quipment. Due to these community additions, there's been an increase in population allowing your state the funds needed to keep the roads maintained properly and build more along with many other improvements. This was all made possible by taxing one unhealthy food item. Isn't this the America you want to live in?

Works Cited

"Obesity." Complications. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Ungar, Rick. "Obesity Now Costs Americans More In HealthCare Spending Than Smoking." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"U.S. Obesity Rate Climbing in 2013." U.S. Obesity Rate Climbing in 2013. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
"USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
"What Are We Eating? What the Average American Consumes in a Year (Image)." MindBodyGreen. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Problems with Obesity in America

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Works Cited Bittman, Mark. A. The “Bad Food” – What’s the Best Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables.” New York Times.

    Read More

  • Dr Thunder: Advertising Scheme

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    United States Census Bureau. (2013, July 1). 2012 National Population Projections: Summary Tables. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from www.census.gov: http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012/summarytables.html

    Read More

  • Mark Bittman Bad Food

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    The argument talked about how the American diet should be changed since it is unhealthy and can cause numerous problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In light of this issue, Bittman proposed the idea of taxing unhealthy food and drinks while promoting vegetables. This plan could potentially kill six birds with one stone. The benefits would include less unhealthy food consumption, the decrease of diseases, and the decrease of public health costs. They would also include in making healthy food more available to the masses, the environment would improve, and it would save billions of dollars annually that could be raised for other places and activities. Americans should implement ideas from countries like Japan and Denmark to help with this problem.

    Read More

  • Surgeon General Project: Childhoudd Obesity

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    Seaman, Andrew M. "U.S. Childhood Obesity Rates Have Increased since 1999: Study." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • A Tax to Benefit the Public

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    For years, the United States government has been trying to find a way to lower the obesity in the country. However, the approach it is using, i.e. taxing unhealthy food, is not the most effective one. People are going to purchase whatever products they wish, whether the price is increased a few cents or not. Junk food options are already set at a more reasonable price than healthy foods, enticing people to buy these less expensive goods. Even though putting a tax on other products, such as tobacco, has served the intended purpose, food is a necessity humans must have for survival. Society is used to consuming foods they want, and will continue to do so. Putting a tax on unhealthy food will not necessarily lower the obesity rate because there are other factors that contribute to this problem. Moreover, taxing measures are usually intended for the collective benefit of society rather than the individual. They are usually perceived as another way the government uses to take money out of the citizens’ pockets. Ultimately, thinking that higher taxes on unhealthy foods will help curb down the obesity rate in the country would be similar to say that cost is the sole contributing factor to this public health problem. Imposing taxes will not help lower the consumption level because these foods will still have lower prices than healthier choices. Taxes do not impact the nutritional value of foods, and their only predictable effect is to help in generating additional revenue for the government.

    Read More

  • Junk Food: The Negative Effects Of Fast Food

    1975 Words  | 4 Pages

    President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico issued a law stating that all junk foods and unhealthy products are to be taxed, aiming to tackle the rates of obesity. This action will have an effect on the economic scale of Mexico but the president aims that in the next few years fewer citizens will be diagnosed with obesity which will have a positive impact on medical expenditure [The Guardian,Sarah Boseley,2013].Several countries in Europe and Scandinavia has adapted to this law as

    Read More

  • Fat Tax: A Tax For A Healthier America

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the past 60 to 70 years the fast food industry has been one of America’s bittersweet phenomenons. Its the foods that people undeniably crave served all in the matter of minutes at a beyond reasonable low cost, sounds almost too good to be true. With 60 million Americans served fast food everyday its safe to say its very enticing ( “Fast food statistics”, 2014). All the deliciousness aside, most rational individuals are aware of the underlying immoral results from frequent consumption of fast food. Giving way to the cliche, fitting perfect for fast food supporters, “Everything is good in moderation.” With all the recents cutbacks and reforms towards child obesity, currently one of the nations biggest epidemics, the thought of an increase of tax on fast foods has become a hot topic. With sugared soda beverages already banned from public schools and multiple programs implemented against our nations problems with child obesity, a tax on fast only seems like the next logical step towards resolving this issue. Opposers believe it will have minimal effect and its just another tax on the poor. With that said a substantial gain of tax revenue that the government would receive from this decision and reducing highly fattening food consumption amongst adolescence, there seems to be cognitive reason to enforce such a law.

    Read More

  • Athletes and Sports

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wang, Y Claire, McPherson, Klim, Marsh, Tim, Gortmaker, Steven L., Brown, Martin. Health and Economic Burden of the Projected Obesity Trends in the USA and the UK. The Lancet; 2011.

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    ?The Growing Cost of Obesity: An Article? National Association of Convenience Store Online. 15 May. 2013. < http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily_News_Archives/May2013/nd0515034.htm>

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination and Health Care

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    "USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. US Census Bureau, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Fast Food

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Policies implemented by the government have the potential to greatly impact the issues faced by Americans because of their food. One of the most serious epidemics to face Americans is obesity; a direct result of a lack of access to healthy, whole produce. The government has several options in solving this problem including food taxes, public education programs, and mandatory physical education in schools. A food tax on items high in process ingredients and low in nutrients should have a higher tax than whole foods. Much like the Cigarette Tax, a Processed Food Tax will persuade consumers to shy away from these nutrient-void foods and incorporate more healthy foods into their diet. Another solution to combating obesity is a series of public educational programs. By educating the public and even kids in school on the difference between processed and whole foods, individuals will be better able to distinguish between beneficial and non-beneficial foods. And finally, the most attention grabbing policy the United States government should be enacting is mandatory physical education. Including, but not limited to Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, the government should require mandatory physical education classes in schools because they found increased PE time raised the amount of time students were exercising or "engaged in strength-building activities" but lowered the amount of time spent in

    Read More

  • Childhood Obesity

    1849 Words  | 4 Pages

    Childhood Obesity in America. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 22, 2011, from Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating: www.seattlesutton.com/media/document/childhood-obesity-in-america

    Read More

  • Comparison of Two Essays About the Issue of Obesity

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bittman, Mark. "Bad Food? Tax It." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 July 2011. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • Government Should Have A Say In Our Diets

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The government must have a say in our diets. Because the issues of obesity have already reached national scales, because the costs of obesity and related health issues have gone far beyond reasonable limits, and because fighting nutritional issues is impossible without fighting poverty and other social issues, the government should control the range and the amount of available foods. The cost of healthier foods should decrease. The access to harmful foods should be limited. In this way, the government will be able to initiate a major shift in nutritional behaviors and attitudes in society.

    Read More

  • Drawbacks of an Unhealthy Food Tax

    1628 Words  | 4 Pages

    Taxes have been around for thousands of years. Their main purpose has always been to raise money for the government or those who were in charge. Today, many people want to use taxes for a different reason and some have already done so. Some people want to use taxes to prevent people from buying certain items, specifically unhealthy foods. Many health conscious people will talk about the many benefits of taxing unhealthy foods, but they tend to leave out the drawbacks of taxing such things. The drawbacks include the large opposition to this tax, the economic impact, as well as the consequences of charging people more for food that was originally considered low in price. At the end of the day, implementing an unhealthy food tax would not be in the best interest of the nation.

    Read More

More about The Fry Tax

Open Document