“Fat Tax”…sure, why not!

Now that I got your attention let me please explain.  We are seeing more and more government officials implementing, or at least discussing, taxing the so-called “bad” foods.  In New York, they have banned oversized fountain drinks and other states have either started taxing sodas or eventually will.  Still more officials want to go after candy, McDonalds, or whatever they think the public will support!  Remember the big “Theater Popcorn” controversy!  For the government, it is all about the money and when we tax so-called bad stuff everyone jumps on board thinking they are doing the right thing.  Well you would be very wrong to think this way!  Any idea what Coca Cola does when you ban soft drinks from High School?  They simply replace them with their own juice products which are just as bad as the sodas and they contain just about the same amount of sugar in them!

I am going to go a little bit political here to make a point.  If the government were truly concerned about our health, they would actually promote better food labeling, accurate food nutritional guidelines and provide incentives (not taxes) to promote better health.  However the government wants to call school lunch pizza’s a vegetable, incentivize the farmers to grow more corn to make high fructose corn syrup cheaper and allow food stamp programs to buy fast food.  The biggest drain on our healthcare system is caused by improper nutrition.  Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and most chronic illnesses can mostly be traced back to diet.  Yes, there are some genetics in play here but it is usually less than 5%.

In addition, how about those TV commercials?  How many sugary cereal commercials do our kids see every day?  How about those Big Mac commercials!  How about our government funded school food programs.  Let us not forget that the poorest of Americans typically have to choose to eat cheaper food and it is usually the worst nutritious food to eat.  Where is the concern for the obesity here?  For me this is all “feel good” legislation that just adds to the problem.

Follow the money my friends!  Big food, the Beef and Dairy industry and many of the large farming groups have the attention of the politicians with their donations and political appointments.  This is true for many of the issues that plague our country today, but the challenge with the food industry are leading us down a path of obesity, illness and ultimately early death!

If you cannot go after the people who fund Washington then maybe we should institute a Fat Tax!  Every American would have to weigh in at their local health clinic and report it on their income tax return.  We can pay by the pound for obesity, this would be a great way for the government to raise revenues and curb obesity just like we stopped people from smoking from all the extra taxes added to cigarettes!  Oh wait, that did not happen either.  My obesity statement is to make a point, let’s not all jump on the bandwagon to go after the evil products because there are a LOT of so called evil products in the market place.  I do not trust government to make those decisions for us and they really cannot collectively agree on anything.

If you have read my previous blogs then you will understand that our problem is not food, it is our ignorance of what make us fat, our addiction to sugar and other foods that are low in nutritional value and our government perpetuating the problem by misinforming the public.

If we truly want to change the obesity path that America is headed down then we must start by educating the public on what real food is, providing incentives for the real food and quit allowing the industry to influence public policy on food.

I know right now this is only a dream, but as more and more Americans truly understand how to look at food, we will see change in the marketplace.  Using our dollars to make good choices in our food will be the best option for now to defend our own health!