Does Denmark have it right with new fat tax?
IN THE FIRST week of October, Denmark became the first country in the world to introduce a tax on fat. In an effort to combat incidences of obesity and heart disease, the Nordic nation will now be charging the equivalent of $2.90 Canadian per kilogram of saturated fat. While foreign nations seem largely in favour of introducing fat taxes of their own, many of Denmark’s citizens are frustrated by the increase in food tax. In light of the ongoing debate on the new tax, two Fulcrum writers weigh in on the idea of charging people for their poor dietary choices.
Point: All for the fat tax
There’s no denying it: The West, as a society, is fat. We have developed a sensitivity complex around addressing our collective (over)weight issues. Anyone trying to promote healthy living through diet and exercise risks being vilified by the public and accused of fostering psychological body-image issues among the heavier population.
Any government intervention in favour of healthy eating usually faces criticism for big-brothering their way into our grocery stores. But when a population is literally eating itself to death, the government must intervene, and that is exactly what the leaders of Denmark have done.
It is the duty of a country to protect its citizens, even if that means protecting them from themselves. Obesity causes a wide variety of health problems, including increased risk of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis, various cancers, gallbladder disease, and premature death. The stress that the ongoing obesity epidemic puts on the health-care system—both in terms of medical resources and economic cost—has the potential to plunge a country into economic crisis. If the government can help protect a state from that crisis through instituting a new tax, then it has the responsibility to do so.
This tax is not stopping anyone from choosing to buy unhealthy foods. Those who want their chips or donuts, their McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken, still have every right to purchase and eat those foods—they just have to pay a little extra, and it is likely that many will. If this tax has any real effect on vendors, it will be that it encourages restaurants and manufacturers to provide healthier options, which will lead to healthier eating and living for the Danish people.
With the implementation of this tax, the government of Denmark is simply asking those citizens who wish to dig their own graves help foot the bill.
—Ryan Mallough
Counterpoint: Poor can’t afford more food tax
Since the recent inception of the Danish fat tax, nations all over the Western world have been shouting their acclaim. France was the first to declare its intention to soon follow suit, and given the high praise other nations have offered in regards to the new food levy, it seems likely taxes on saturated fat are about to start popping up the world over.
Though there is something to be said for financially deterring poor diet choices, the strain this tax could cause for the impoverished of Denmark is something that weighs a bit more heavily than a little extra fat in their food.
Healthy food should undoubtedly be cheaper and easier to obtain than the over-processed and fat-ridden chip choices that adorn entire sections of grocery stores in Europe and North America. It should be less of a financial strain for a family or individual of limited income to make healthy dietary choices than to rely on cooking Kraft Dinner night after night. Yet, even before the implementation of this new fat levy, natural and organic foods were far more costly than their chemically composed counterparts.
While Denmark’s fat tax may do something to narrow the gap between the costs of unhealthy and wholesome foods, it has done nothing to benefit those who have no choice but to purchase what is cheapest in order to fill their stomachs with the bare minimum. Focused far too much on those with the means to make choices about what they eat, this tax betrays an immense ignorance about the inability of many impoverished citizens to obtain enough groceries to keep from starving.
This fat tax is going to do little to lighten the load of the miniscule 10 per cent of obese Danes; instead, it is the low-income families and students of Denmark that are going to feel the weight slipping—out of their wallets, that is.
—Jaclyn Lytle
