Essay about Economic Changes in Diet
Junk food is the most consumed food in the United States because it is less expensive, and because it is tasty due to its exquisite mix of flavors that complement each other well. This type of food is harmful to health due to its high level of carbohydrates, sugars, sodium, and fats. '' America has health problems, and food is a big part of it '' (Arens 627). Sometimes referred to as “Reactive Hypoglycemia,” sugar crashes are a common sign that your diet has been overloaded with sugars. In a sugar crash, your blood has too much glucose (sugar) in it, which triggers your body to begin producing massive amounts of insulin to compensate when it is over-produced. It can lead to headaches, nausea, sweating, and faintness. Lowering the price of healthy food and increasing the price of junk food would be a genuine solution to this problem because people will be forced to buy the food which reaches the money to pay for that, the one that is best for them to consume.
People prefer buying junk food instead of healthy food. Healthy food is mostly more expensive, and more difficult to obtain. Therefore, people prefer to buy junk food without knowing the damage they do to the body. It is cheap and handy. And even though it has little to no nutritional value, the goal is to keep you wanting more. (Shereen Lehman 30).
Junk food is also quick to prepare; it makes people not have to wait. That makes another reason for its sale to be through the roof. ‘’The number of people that Mcdonald's feeds daily is greater than the population of Spain (Burr 624).’’ It is alarming how people get sick from their own feet, knowing the damage that eating that food causes them, and even then, they do not take care of what they eat.
It is no different at the grocery store. Inexpensive snacks and high-sodium, high-fat meals can be found on the shelves. And healthier foods like fresh fruits and vegetables have a reputation to be pricier, though the USDA says this is not always the case. ‘’We propose taxing pretty much everything,’’ explains Mozzafarian. This intervention would help us to determine which items can be increased in price and which cannot. To benefit the economy, manufacturers, and, most importantly, humanity, given that we are suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, all of which can be fatal. As a result, a well-balanced diet includes foods that include the fats, sugars, and carbohydrates that the digestive system requires to work properly.
Most clinicians recognize that junk food consumption is associated with premature heart disease. The consensus is that this relationship can be explained by the saturated fats in these foods increasing obesity, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia risk and the high salt content raising blood pressure.
It is necessary to organize the price of the food. ‘’The modest tax should be used to subsidize minimally processed, mostly whole foods that the scientific evidence demonstrates are healthy, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, vegetable oils, and yogurt (Blanding 632).’’
Healthy food can be less costly simply because it is natural; fruits and vegetables need only soil, water, and sun to grow, while fast food must be refined and takes several ingredients to prepare. However, this does not imply that healthy food is less complex, on the contrary, it has a fresh and light flavor that makes us feel satisfied and full. It also has more sophisticated and exquisite flavors on the palate. Imagine an apple might cost 5 cents, a filet of salmon 25 cents. ‘’It would radically alter incentives for producers (Blanding 633).’’
A junk food tax, like all sin taxes, will be regressive. In other words, it will particularly impact low-income households, which buy a larger proportion of these products. However, this story might not be so straightforward. Several surveys have found that low-income households are more vulnerable to increases in the price of unhealthy goods, implying that by eliminating junk food sales, they can save more of the tax (and the financial hit).
In conclusion, a large part of the population receives a low income, being vulnerable to having to buy junk food due to its low cost and mostly suffering from chronic diseases caused by this reason. Moreover, low-income communities are among the most affected by obesity-related diseases such as type II diabetes and heart disease. While adding that, nearly half of American adults eat fast food at least once a week. As a result, it is important to intervene quickly by lowering the price of organic food, and the prices of fast food to make the public consume better by spending less. In this way, Americans' quality of living would be increased by avoiding diseases exacerbated by junk food consumption. If junk food tax helped change that pattern while also providing revenue to improve access to health insurance its net effectiveness could be extremely progressive. Maintaining a balanced diet is essential for proper body functioning, which is why making unhealthy foods more costly and healthy foods less expensive would cause Americans to change their buying and eating habits.
