Time for a Sugar Tax or VAT on some foods

lisyloo

so I'm not sure putting VAT on sugar would reduce sales that much.

Maybe not, but it would definitely raise some money.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I don't want to live in a nanny state, but it's hard not to be alarmed by the amount the NHS has to spend on this completely preventable condition.

I did Home Economics GCSE in the mid 90s; there was a fair amount on nutrition and we costed each dish, but there was nothing on household budgeting, long term store cupboard management and meal planning. Time to make a short cooking course compulsory for all teenagers? It really doesn't take long to learn about basics such as simple soups, getting the most out of cheap cuts of meat, store cupboard essentials etc. If it was presented in a "sticking it to the man" survivalist challenge kind of way, I can see teenagers getting quite into foraging, searching for bargains and eking out meals from odd ingredients.

People are free to feed whatever !!!!!! they like to kids at home, but when they're at school funded by my taxes, I expect them to be in the best possible state for learning. So I'd ban all fizzy drinks vending machines from schools (what possible argument is there for having them anyway?) and invest in properly healthy school meals where they also learn table manners. Surely a developed nation can provide one decent meal per day and ensure eating is seen as a civilised, sociable activity?

kabayiri

We just don't value food here.

Go to a works restaurant in France. It surprised me just how much people were willing to pay for lunch, but they expected a good product.

Meanwhile, in the likes of Sheffield, we get the pound bakery.

Ahh, you're thinking : "surely not a pie or pastie for a pound?"

Of course not! You get 2 for a pound!!

Just what is in these things?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Somebody on here once observed that if you're in Italy you should follow all the local tradies when they head off for lunch, as you'll end up at a cafe serving fantastic and amazingly cheap proper food. If you did that at the UK you'd arrive at Greggs.

Every Monday on my way to work I buy 5 Fair Trade bananas for 80p from Sainsburys to have as an early morning snack throughout the week. And yet I read that families can't afford to feed their kids properly.

ukcarper

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Somebody on here once observed that if you're in Italy you should follow all the local tradies when they head off for lunch, as you'll end up at a cafe serving fantastic and amazingly cheap proper food. If you did that at the UK you'd arrive at Greggs.

Every Monday on my way to work I buy 5 Fair Trade bananas for 80p from Sainsburys to have as an early morning snack throughout the week. And yet I read that families can't afford to feed their kids properly.

I do wonder why we are continually told healthy food is expensive it's not only bananas that are cheap you can get 6 apples for less than a pound 4 peaches for the same amount a couple of carrots for 10p.

antrobus

Pennywise wrote: »

This is exactly what I've been saying for a while. Very simple to impose. VAT on anything tinned, processed or packaged, no VAT on anything in it's basic natural state. ....

Practically nothing that you can buy in a supermarket (or their independent competitors for that matter) these days is in supplied in it's "basic natural state".

Pennywise wrote: »

...A 20% difference in price would increase the attractiveness of fresh fruit & veg, wet fish and raw meats and may also help the independent greengrocers, bakers and butchers to survive. ....

Neither wet fish and raw meats qualify as being in their "basic natural state". You don't find chunks of sirloin steak lying in a field, you know.:)

Even fresh fruit & veg (about the only foodstuffs you could even claim were 'unprocessed' in some way) are often subject to a process involving large amounts of refrigeration, or storage involving inert gases.

antrobus

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I don't want to live in a nanny state, but it's hard not to be alarmed by the amount the NHS has to spend on this completely preventable condition. ....

Type 1 diabetes isn't "completely preventable". Quite the reverse, nobody really knows the cause; probably genetic, maybe triggered by some kind of virus.

Even for Type 2 diabetes genetics is a major risk factor. As is race, so I'm not sure you can say it's "completely preventable".

antrobus

setmefree2 wrote: »

....Imho we need VAT at 20% on all foods except raw fruit , veg, meat, fish, and pure dairy products.
....

Raw fruit contains fructose, you know. Overdosing on fructose is just as likely to trigger type 2.

See for example,

Moderate Amounts of Fructose Consumption Impair Insulin Sensitivity in Healthy Young Men
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/1/150.full.pdf

wymondham

How about the NHS stopping all treatment for obesity related problems? Whilst at it how about smoking related also??

Maybe people would think about their health a little more without the safety net? Taxing things does not stop them....

System

wymondham wrote: »

How about the NHS stopping all treatment for obesity related problems? Whilst at it how about smoking related also??

Maybe people would think about their health a little more without the safety net? Taxing things does not stop them....

Why stop ther?

Sport related?
self-harming related?
Failure in self care?

Where do you draw the line?