Sugar Tax

A recent column in The Washington Post posed the question “Can we fight obesity by slapping a heavy tax on soda?” When they interviewed Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, he seemed to think the answer was YES. In fact, he has a article about the topic (Ounces of Prevention — The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages) in the April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine! Between pages 1805 and 1808 Brownell states that “Sugar-sweetened beverages…may be the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic” and then shows evidence that a government-imposed tax could significantly reduce consumption.

Although some people argue that it is unfair to tax food items, Brownell disagrees. His well-chosen quote accentuates his perspective: “Sugar, rum, and tobacco are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation” (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776). The Washington Post article states that Brownell proposed the idea of a “sugar tax” 15 years ago, but it appears the idea has been around for centuries!

I first heard of the “sugar tax” at a family reunion earlier this summer when Uncle “Jim” brought it up. A staunch Republican, he immediately made his opinion clear – He was NOT in favor of the tax and was aghast at the idea of the government taking away more our civil liberties. “There have already been so many freedoms taken away!” he claimed. While my flaming liberal side would have immediately voted in favor of the tax, his abrupt, rough opposition made me stop short and re-think my reply. After a moment of ponderance, I took a deep breath and said…

I agree. I don’t think there should be a tax on soda… However, I do think there is a problem with the food economy in this country. When the price of a Coke is less than the price of an apple, you have to sense that something is wrong with the situation. A quote by Brownell from The Washington Post article says it clearly: “Until healthful foods routinely cost less than unhealthful ones, getting people –especially low-income people—to eat them will remain a challenge.”

While a “sugar tax” may not be the best way, I am not opposed to a government intervention of a different variety (please let me know if you think otherwise).

Adair’s solution: Instead of just taxing flavored sugar water, we need to stop subsidizing corn (which supplies the soda industry with cheap high fructose corn syrup, as one junk food example). Instead, the government should re-direct those funds to small (read: non-commodity crop, preferably biodynamic) vegetable farms. That way, the REAL cost of commodity crops will be felt by the public (and giving a little more integrity to the food system). In other words, the cost of junk food would increase and, by comparison, the cost of healthful food would appear to cost less. -- I don't know if this will ever happen (or if it's even possible), but until we make it economical for Americans to choose a bag of carrots over a bag of Frito-Lay chips, I don’t think we’ll ever get out of the obesity epidemic we’ve eaten ourselves into!