There have been several areas throughout the country that have enacted taxes and regulations on food products. Some examples are regulations on the size of sodas sold in New York City, and taxes on soda in areas of California and Colorado. After reading the articles for and against “sin” taxes, consider the following questions as you write this week’s discussion post:
- Do you feel that “sin” taxes are effective at lowering intake of junk food and decreasing obesity?
- Do these taxes unfairly target specific groups of people?
- Do you feel people respond better to punishment (i.e. being taxed on “bad” food) or reward (i.e. discounts on “good” foods like fruits and vegetables)? Explain why you feel this way in your answer.
- Are there better ways than taxes to change behaviors? Describe at least 3 ideas you have for affecting change.
- Use your own community as an example. How likely do you think people in your community would be to support taxes on unhealthy foods? You might use data that you gathered about your community for our discussion in Week 6 to help you answer this question
