Should junk food be taxed?

vegmebuff

What are your thoughts?

Alatariel75

Define junk.

caroldavison332

no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.

Alatariel75

caroldavison332 wrote: »

no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.

They're damn near $30 a pack in Australia and people still smoke.

thiosulfate

One person's junk is another man's treasure.

queenliz99

Seriously no! Personal responsibility is paramount. Junk food is the bomb!

NorthCascades

caroldavison332 wrote: »

no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.

Every time they raise the tax on cigarettes, teen smoking goes down. You make a good argument.

Carlos_421

Hasn't the government taken away enough of our money and Liberty already???

Besides, why should I trust the same institution responsible for the bridge to nowhere to decide what I should and shouldn't eat?
We gonna have federally employed nutritionists to decide our calorie and macro allotments and decide who should eat what so they can tax us based on individual health needs?

Of all the ill conceived ideas...

Fursian

Has taxing things ever helped?

ROBOTFOOD

NO

tlflag1620

No. Not only for the reasons mentioned, but because the government has no business dictating nutrition (tho that doesn't seem to stop them). Most of what we think we know about nutrition is based on observational studies and food frequency questionnaires. IOW, junk science.

There's an idea - let's start taxing junk science!!

3dogsrunning

Sure. If we can all agree on what junk food is.

What about ingredients that are healthy but can be used to make "junk" food?

marm1962

NorthCascades wrote: »

caroldavison332 wrote: »

no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.

Every time they raise the tax on cigarettes, teen smoking goes down. You make a good argument.

Does it? Seems to me I see more teenagers smoking and less adults, mainly because teens aren't paying bills with their money.

vegmebuff

Alatariel75 wrote: »

caroldavison332 wrote: »

no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.

They're damn near $30 a pack in Australia and people still smoke.

About 16-17% smoke in the states compared to about 13% in Australia.

seska422

That would be a regressive tax. Poorer people would be impacted. People with more money would just go ahead and eat what they wanted anyway.

If the government (actually busybodies who want to control the behavior of others so lobby for their views to be legislated) is that concerned, they should subsidize more nutritious food to make it cheaper rather than making "junk" food more expensive. Positive reinforcement for behavior change rather than negative reinforcement. However, subsidies don't fill government coffers.

Shoot, they could go the whole nine yards and have government cafeterias everywhere with free (or nearly free) nutritious meals available 24/7. That would give everyone the opportunity to choose a healthy meal that better meets the government's idea of how people should eat.

cwolfman13

No...

I'd be all for more education though.

kuftae

Idk if this would just make "food deserts" worse, making junk food inaccessible too or if it would actually incentive stores to carry healthier options. Economists chime in pls.

bekim123

I don't advocate any new taxes, and feel the government is way too involved in things they don't need to control. I suppose if it did happen, my question would be...What would the money from the tax be used for?

cmriverside

I very seldom buy bagged chips or pretzels or anything like that but the other day I wanted some bagged popcorn and I went down the snack aisle for the first time in months...probably in a year. What the actual? WHEN did a bag of popped corn become $4? Or potato chips? $4.50!! What???? I was thinking $1.99, max.

cmriverside

I guess that doesn't answer.

heh. Sure, tax 'em! I"m not buying them anyway. Grrr.

luluinca

No.......today's Junk is tomorrow's Treasure. Just look at coffee, red wine and dark chocolate!