“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. – Benjamin Franklin 1789.
For over a century, the leading cause of global death has been heart disease.
The biggest risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
The biggest contributor to those illnesses is diet and lifestyle. Too much highly processed foods!
The biggest factors in how we build our diets and lifestyles are cost and convenience.Highly processed foods are cheap and shelf stable, making them affordable and convenient for consumers.
And now that tariffs have entered our daily conversations, we know that taxes (or subsidies)influence how much things cost. The US government gives subsidies to farmers planting corn, wheat, and soy. This is to ensure crop stability, but the subsidies make it profitable for a farmer to grow these crops over others. Having an abundance of these ingredients incentivizes food manufacturers to find creative ways to process corn, wheat, and soy into cheap, shelf stable, sugar and salt laden food products.
Death and taxes.
Here’s an idea:
Currently in NYC our groceries are not taxed, but prepared foods are taxed. If tax policies can be made on such a difference, then it’s not outrageous to tax processed food higher the more shelf stable it becomes.
If we take corn as an example, this would make fresh corn on the cob the cheapest untaxed version.
A 6-12 month shelf life, like cornflake cereal, would be taxed at a certain rate, making it more expensive than fresh corn.
A 1-2 year shelf life, like cornchips, would be taxed at a higher rate, making such a snack a luxury and a real treat – not to be eaten mindlessly.
An indefinite shelf life, like corn starch and corn syrup, and any food product using corn starch or corn syrup, would be taxed at the highest rate. Gummy bears and instant noodles would be real-deal fancy!
This would make fresh food the most affordable and attractive option. Of course, tax policy is there to incentivize business and profits, not health. Right now, the food industry is shortening our lives and killing us off. If we are healthy and living longer, the food industry will have more time with us as customers, and wouldn’t that still be profitable for all involved?
