Real Healthcare Reform Starts with Healthy Food

by Ali Savino

categories: Food Prices, Health

Published July 28, 2009 @ 12:49PM PT

Yesterday there was the startling report that 10% of all healthcare costs are due to obesity. That totals up to more than $147 billion a year. Considering that the current healtcare bills that are winding their way through Congress are wearing price tags in the $1 - $1.5 trillion range, it is clear that obesity is playing a large role in the spiraling costs.

While so many politicians wax poetic about keeping down costs, a sugar tax has been roundly panned as a non-starter. This is not surprising.  As with tobacco, often public sentiment lags behind actual data.  America still has a culture that believes that if you're fat, well it's your own damn fault:

Being poor in 21-st century America doesn’t mean not having enough to eat, but often it means being part of a culture where fattening, processed foods are not only relatively cheap and convenient, but socially acceptable.  It also means having the kind of job that often isn’t all that rewarding, and you really just need to unwind after work instead of stopping at Whole Foods and whipping yourself up a nice tofu stir-fry.

This, perhaps, is what Bingaman really wants the USCO-OP ( United States Council on Overweight and Obesity Prevention) to change.  Because let’s be honest:  poor people know that green chile cheeseburgers will make them fatter than steamed salmon will, and they know that doing an hour of exercise will make them fitter than watching an hour of television.  They know these things, but often they’ve had a long, hard day at work and they’re tired and hungry and just want to be left alone with their remote control and their burger and their Dr. Pepper.

This attitude is what is going to hold us back from really doing something obesity.  Yes, people should exercise, but that's not the whole story.  We also live in a society where children drink more soda than milk and soda is one third the price of milk.  Until the cost of food reflects the ill side-effects, people will still reach for the green chile cheeseburger, which btw costs one fourth the price of the steamed salmon. And elitists who don't realize that should really shut their traps and not tell poor people how to eat.

So we have an attitude problem.  Which is going to be a huge hurdle to clear.  One the other side though, is greener pastures. Turns out that countries like Great Britain are already experimenting with sugar taxes.  While we won't know for years what are the potential health affects, we do know it has the potential to raise some serious dough:

And here's the payoff: Conservatively estimated, a 10% tax levied on foods that would be defined as "less healthy" by a national standard adopted recently in Great Britain could yield $240 billion in its first five years and $522 billion over 10 years of implementation -- if it were to begin in October 2010. If lawmakers instituted a program of tax subsidies to encourage the purchase of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, the added revenue would still be $356 billion over 10 years.