I feel like I’ve been writing a lot about food lately, and this post will be no exception. An op-ed in the NYT a few weeks ago raised the novel concept — well, it’s not really that novel, but based on our behavior over the last few decades it seems novel — of subsidizing healthy foods through taxes in the unhealthy. It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’ve been following the other stuff I’ve posted in months past on food deserts, MyPlate, and so forth.
The fact is that sugar is a poison (don’t take my word for it, click the link and hear it from noted endocrinologist Robert Lustig, MD), and unlike other poisons — cigarettes, alcohol — we don’t sequester sugar behind the counter, require only consenting adults be allowed to purchase it, or even confine it to special stores. Everywhere you go in American society are unhealthy foods, and the lower your socioeconomic status, the harder it is to find healthy food, and when you do, the harder it will be to justify its expense.