NUT3082 Assessment Task 3: Advocacy Discussion Paper – No GST (Goods and Services Tax) on fresh fruit and vegetables. September 27 2017 The Hon. Scott Morrison MP Federal Treasurer GPO Box 2936 Melbourne VIC 3001 AUSTRALIA To the honorable Scott Morrison, Say ‘NO!’ to GST - Keeping fresh fruit and vegetables on the exemption list from GST. I wish to extend my gratitude towards the continued policy of ‘no GST on fresh fruit and vegetables’ as Australia has been identified by INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/ non-communicable disease Research, Monitoring and Action Support) as an international best practice within the food pricing domain in the policy area ‘Minimize taxes on healthy foods’ (1). …show more content…
Additionally, studies have found a correlation between high fruit and vegetable costs and childhood obesity in low and middle-income households (5). It is thought that households may compensate for the increase in price by buying less fresh produce and substituting it with cheaper (and most likely unhealthy) products (5). Furthermore, obesity is an enormous economic burden with the total annual cost in 2009 being a massive $56.6 billion (6), with more and more Australians becoming obese this figure will increase in the years to come. It is clear that changing the current policy will increase the financial burden which will cost the government billions of dollars, whereas, if the Government maintains the policy of no GST on fresh fruit and vegetable it will continue to save the economy millions of dollars and can help combat the relentless issue obesity poses on society. Following on, as Australia’s GST policy exempts fruit and vegetables from having a tax placed upon them, abolishing this policy would have serious negative health implications on the Australian citizens. Obesity is a result of environmental factors, the government must create positive food environments as it is a crucial factor in reducing the risk of obesity and is why there should continue to be no GST on fresh fruit and vegetables (7). Studies conducted by The University of Queensland hs estimated that if the GST
Eating healthy has become a thing of the past. In the essay by Mark Bittman “Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables Instead” offers an idea on how to change the Standard American Diet: making healthy food cheaper and fast, processed food more expensive. Calculating the tax to increase one penny would make a difference in the price and the decision for the people as to whether or not the people are will purchase processed foods. He explains that taxes on carbonated drinks and processed foods should increase due to the amount of money it would bring into the government, and the benefits of a healthier American. Bittman’s results remove chronic health diseases that reinvent the way we eat. In “Nickle and Dimed on Not Getting by in America,”
They also noticed that people who are facing the food insecurity problem in Australia were 1.6% of women and 1.9% of men based on one of the indigenous Australians study. The longterm impacts of food insecurity can lead to obesity especially in women.The main reason is due to purchasing cheap quality foods and high fat content foods and unavailability of nutritious foods with the normal price range for low income population groups (Drewnoski and Spensor 2004). A research study noticed that there is much difference between the cost of healthy foods and unhealthy foods based on the survey in 34 victorian supermarkets. Another interesting fact that was revealed was 40 % of the income is required for a family to consume nutritional food in their everyday diet (Palermo et al. 2008). Another survey during 1998-2004 across 56 stores in Queensland revealed the cost of Healthy Food Basket (HFAB) has increased above Consumer Price Index which means high level nutritional food became more expensive when compared to less nutrition foods ( Harrison et al. 2007).The common fact that was revealed by both the studies was food became expensive for low population groups like indegnous people to maintain a healthy
The issue of obesity is one that is very familiar to the leading health groups in Australia. Multiple studies conducted all over the world show that, Australia is the fourth most obese country in the world with 61% of Australians being obese(weight watchers.com.au). Recently four leading health groups have taken the fight against obesity a step further. The four groups have started lobbying the Federal Government in hope that the Federal Government might speculate putting a tax on unhealthy food and beverages that contain a high amount of sugar.
There are better alternatives for preventing obesity than a fat tax. The policy-improving RAND Corporation examined twenty international programs which offered subsidies for fruit and vegetables. Study author Ruopeng An wrote: “All but
Introduction According to statistical data, Australia is currently more obese than America. Obesity in Australia over the past few years has been described as an ‘epidemic’ which is ‘frequently expanding’ (Ryan, 2009). Professor Jimmy Bell from the Imperial College in London who is an obesity specialist says that "Genetically, human beings haven't changed, but our environment and our access to cheap food has. We’re being bombarded every day by the food industry to consume more and more food and we are slowly losing the war against obesity.”
Contemporary debates regarding the increase of obesity are dominated by a personal responsibility frame. However, the most impacting factor for obesity in the United States is income. With farm subsidies, the price of soft drinks decreased by 23% between 1985 and 2000, meanwhile the cost of fruits and vegetables increased by 40% (SG5 Lecture Notes, 11/8/16). Based off the Bureau of Labor Statistics the cost of unhealthy foods has dramatically fallen while the price of fruits and vegetables has inflated.
Marketing is a key factor in the increase of unhealthy snack options being bought. They should help encourage students and people by creating PSAs or commercials encouraging healthier habits. If we tax things like soda or french fries, things that are extremely fattening and bad for us then maybe we could use that money for making healthy food more affordable. (Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables, Paragraph 3) If we use that money to subsidize vegetables they can be sold for $0.50 a pound. We can make them as available as chips and candy bars. (Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables, Paragraph
Today, consumers think of fruits and vegetables as foods they should eat, but refuse to purchase because of the “whole paycheck” price. However, in a paper recently published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it appears that buying fruits and vegetables may be cheaper than consumers think. Some key findings include:
* There is speculation over the government introducing a new ‘fat tax’ on fast food served over a counter. This will add on another 20% to the current price in taxes. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/16/fat-tax-unhealthy-food-effect
In recent years, obesity in Britain is increasing. The Government believes that reducing fast food and soft drink calories in the market,
Firstly, they need to address the issue of access and affordability – The problem being that low quality food is extremely cheap and convenient, whereas fresh, organic produce can be very difficult to find and expensive to buy. This means that people who are unable to afford the cost that comes with a healthy lifestyle are resorted to buying non-nutritional, unhealthy food, such as take-away and junk food. It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that Australians have access to fresh, nutritious foods, and currently, they are not fulfilling that responsibility. The Australian government should make fresh food more affordable and accessible, so that parents and young adults can buy good food for themselves and their children. The government should also put a tax on junk food such as soft-drinks and chips. In England, the government has just put a tax on soft drinks. This is great initiative, so that parents will be more inclined to buy healthy food rather than soft drink, as it is a great dis-incentive. It is simply disgraceful how a bottle of coke is cheaper than a bottle of water less than half the size, where instead water should actually be free. Taxes on junk food and more affordable nutritious foods will encourage parents to purchase healthy food rather than junk-food for their
On average, a household spent $235 a month for groceries in 2009. Within this amount, 4.6% of their spending was on fruits. In 2010, the average spent monthly on groceries was $219. Within this amount, 6.2% of their spending was on fruits. Although families were spending less on groceries, they were still getting some fruits within their budget. Vegetable spending grew in total from 5.4% to 6.3%. In both 2009 and 2010, the most purchased vegetables were fresh and canned types (e.g. ketchup and pickles). 60% of vegetable purchases were fresh vegetables. According to Table 1, other vegetables (e.g. celery, mushrooms and olives) accounted for 40% of all purchased vegetables in 2009 for WIC households based on cup-equivalent servings. There was a similar expenditure in 2010 of vegetable purchases among WIC participants. Before WIC’s revisions, WIC had a very limited set of vegetables available.
The New Zealand government should have a tax to regulate the consumption of sugary drinks or foods, because this leads to decrease issues of people 's health and it would be heartening healthy conducts.
Numerous problematic aspects were shown throughout this film that needed to be resolved as quick as possible. It was mentioned that there are no seasons in the supermarket which is a very valid point that not a lot of people notice. All year round fruits are placed on shelves in our supermarkets. Since we are used to seeing this, we never realize that this is odd. For instance, Food, Inc. claims individuals can get tomatoes any time of the year. They are picked when they are green and ripened with ethylene gas. This is similar to apples that are sprayed with thiabendazole which causes birth defects. In order to resolve this is to stop buying conventional fruit. If there is a decrease in sale of these injected fruits it will lead to a decrease in production. A company is not going to continue releasing an item if they are not getting any sales.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 in 3 adults are considered to be overweight and 1 in 3 are considered to be obese. That’s approximately 36% of the American population being obese and 74% being overweight. There are many causes to why this can be the case and some medical causes, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. However, the prevalence and widespread acceptance of junk food has made the problem of obesity worse. The government should start regulating junk food as it does with products such as alcohol and cigarettes, which in turn may prevent some people from abusing it or at the very least slow down consumption. Although a tax on junk food realistically won’t cause intake to stop entirely, the revenue gained by the government from this tax could help with health care costs related to the problem, such as treatments for diabetes and obesity, as well as help offer healthy snack alternatives at cheaper prices and make them more readily available.