As any dieter knows, willpower is weak in the face of food that's convenient and delicious. A crisis of willpower on a national scale now threatens American health, says Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., and he's proposed a radical measure in response.

Brownell, an expert on eating disorders at Yale University, notes that nutritionists have been offering the same dietary advice for decades: eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, lots of grains and starches, and keep fat and sugar to a minimum. They've driven their point home with educational campaigns and improved food labeling. And yet Americans keep getting fatter: Obesity has increased 25 percent in the past 10 years alone.

Brownell thinks that a "toxic food environment" is to blame: high-fat, high-calorie, high-sugar foods that are easy to get, cheap to buy, and taste delicious. "When you put these things together you get a recipe for disaster," says Brownell, pointing to the rise not only in obesity, but in diet-related illnesses such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.

It's time to acknowledge that the efforts of individuals are not enough, says Brownell, and that the government needs to regulate food as it would a potentially dangerous drug. He suggests a tax on unhealthy foods and a subsidy for healthy ones, like whole grains and fresh produce. "If people reconceptualize food as a potentially healthy or unhealthy substance," he says, "then that opens the door to dealing with food just like we do cigarettes or alcohol."


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I concur with the subsidy on healthy foods. Organic fruits and veggies definitely need to be discounted. Why should my pockets be penalized for eating HEALTHY? Waddup wit dat?

I don't agree with taxing things like that, just because it's my business if I want to die when I'm 30.

But it could help.

My mom hates that I eat healthy because, being 13, she pays for my food. And she refuses to eat what I do, so she has to buy junk food and health food.

True Cardio King!! I found this article funny as well as interesting!!!

Im a student and my grocery bill has sure gone up since i started eating healthy!!! Eg. Nuts, Whole wheat Bread, Egg whites, Dark Chocolate, Low fat cheese.... etc etc ...

This pre-supposes that human beings act rationally and they often do not. People think that because Doritos are cheaper than some fresh fruit and veggies, if you lower the price of fruits and veggies, people will obviously buy the fruits and veggies. Not true. If you increase the price of Doritos and people have to now make a choice between buying apples or buying Doritos instead of getting both, many will simply buy the Doritos at the higher price. It's behavioral economics and it often makes no sense whatsoever. It's the same reason people drink, smoke, take drugs and engage in risky sexual activity. It's not rational and you can't tax it away.

Regardless of whether it would be good for people or not, that is not the government's function because we have a federal republic. I fear you all are confusing our government with a socialistic/communistic one. Unfortunately, America is headed in that direction because everyone thinks the government should control people's lives.

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I don't think you can tax the problem away, BUT it would be a nice break for those of us who do choose to eat healthy. That's all I'm sayin'.

I just thought this was an interesting read and posted it here! I looked it up and the professor who suggests the above does research on food habits/ obesity/ the surrounding environment and psychological state. He is a researcher and is free to hypothesize what he believes! Thats what research is about!

I dont think we need to get so serious about this

Great concept in theory, but the reality is, obesity impacts everyone. If you could see the amount of obesity related medical problems- and the amount of healthcare dollars, the majority of which are subsidized by government healthcare programs- you'd be floored. Lots of the money people pay in taxes is already going towards the care of people whose main medical problem is being obese, and it's only going to become a larger percent of healthcare expenditures.

I don't even want to get started on the obesity and health care cost issue, because I might not stop, since I work in health care in a clinic that deals with many obese patients.

As for the main topic, I think the point that no one wants to say is humans are weak. We do all kinds of stuff that's bad for us, knowing full well what we're doing. Unless we have immediate, harsh consequences like getting burned by a hot stove, people are going to do what feels good at the time.

Personally, I don't believe taxing bad food equates to that type of consequence. There are a heckuva lot of people, many very poor, who still smoke, even though the prices are outrageous. It seems the main thing that has really reduced the number of smokers is demonizing it. People want to be accepted, no matter how much they might say they don't care.

We've had the demonizing obesity topic before, and I think it got pretty ugly, so I won't carry that any further. I will say I am not fond of putting people down. I just don't like the trend of acceptance that often condones bad behavior.