Taxing the Fatties!

[V-Pig]

To continue on a theme from the old forum:


Denmark has become the first country in the world to impose a "fat tax" on unhealthy foods.The move will place a surcharge on foods high in saturated fat. Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food will all be subject to the levy.
The aim is to reduce people's intake of fatty foods. But consumers have begun hoarding provisions ahead of the price rise and some scientists have suggested that it would be better to target people's salt or sugar intake.
The Nordic country introduced the tax Saturday, of 16 kroner (£1.85) per kilogram of saturated fat in a product.
The tax was approved by large majority in a parliament in March as a move to help increase the average life expectancy of Danes.
In September, Hungary introduced a new tax popularly known as the "Hamburger Law," but that only involves higher taxes on soft drinks, pastries, salty snacks and food flavorings.
The outgoing conservative Danish government planned the fat tax as part of a goal to increase the average life expectancy of Danes, currently below the OECD average at 79 years, by three years over the next 10 years.
"Higher fees on sugar, fat and tobacco is an important step on the way toward a higher average life expectancy in Denmark," health minister Jakob Axel Nielsen said when he introduced the idea in 2009, because "saturated fats can cause cardiovascular disease and cancer."
Linnet Juul says the tax mechanism is very complex, involving tax rates on the percentage of fat used in making a product rather than the percentage that is in the end-product.
Linnet Juul's organization is pressuring lawmakers to simplify the tax, but said he is unsure what will happen when the new, centre-left government takes office.



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-imposes-fat-tax-on-food-to-curb-obesity-2364715.html

[GP]

Breaking news: Arshavin rules out move to FC Copenhagen.

[V-Pig]

Breaking news: Arshavin rules out move to FC Copenhagen.

:lol:

[Syn]

Food prices are already on the rise; although this is a nice idea in principle, we have to be sure the less well-off should have easy access to healthy food at lower prices.

Subsidise Japanese food imo. Those fuckers live forever.

[GP]

Food prices are already on the rise; although this is a nice idea in principle, we have to be sure the less well-off should have easy access to healthy food at lower prices.

Subsidise Japanese food imo. Those fuckers live forever.

Yeah, but who wants to live forever when all you can eat is fish spunk and whale cock. fuck that shit.

[V-Pig]

Food prices are already on the rise; although this is a nice idea in principle, we have to be sure the less well-off should have easy access to healthy food at lower prices.

Subsidise Japanese food imo. Those fuckers live forever.

I eat healthily and cheaply and easily. Basically, I eat a lot of sweet potato and reduced-fat hummus and fruit and veg. They're not expensive. They're not even hard to prepare. Sweet potato gets microwaved for 10 minutes, courgette gets lightly fried for a couple of minutes, etc.

[V-Pig]

I also cut out caffeine and have a lot of green tea. Arsene would fucking love me.

[Master Splinter]

Potato is fucking awesome in pretty much all it's forms tbh.

Potato :bow:.

[Master Splinter]

Arsene would fucking love me.

Too old tbh.

Lol I made an Arsene nonce joke.

[Marc Overmars]

Potato is fucking awesome in pretty much all it's forms tbh.

Potato :bow:.

Pretty much.

Had a jacket potato for dinner. nom.

[Syn]

Yeah, but who wants to live forever when all you can eat is fish spunk and whale cock. fuck that shit.

:lol:

@vpgreg: You might be able to afford healthy shit but the really healthy shit - organic and shit - seems to be more expensive than it should be. I'd be all for following Denmark and placing a fat tax on McDonalds etc. but only if that money is used to make basic foods cheaper.

I think you could eat very well on minimum wage if you could cook (women)...but if you have a penis I think you'd find it more challenging. No wonder women live longer innit.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I'm a better cook than my wife.

[Syn]

That is impressive assuming she has hands.

Lets try to make this thread helpful for me

Anyone have any cheap, healthy places to eat? I'm convinced it's difficult to afford a healthy diet. e.g. it's lunchtime, you go down to sainsbury's or whatever, screw the meal deal - you look for the healthiest option. Those packs of salad and a drink. Bill: £4 ? London's shit. We all need to move to Stoke. No demand for healthy foods up there so it's probably going for free.

[V-Pig]

:lol:

@vpgreg: You might be able to afford healthy shit but the really healthy shit - organic and shit - seems to be more expensive than it should be. I'd be all for following Denmark and placing a fat tax on McDonalds etc. but only if that money is used to make basic foods cheaper.

I think you could eat very well on minimum wage if you could cook (women)...but if you have a penis I think you'd find it more challenging. No wonder women live longer innit.

Well presumably the market would adjust it. If it costs too much to eat at McDonalds, people will go elsewhere. If it all costs too much because of a fat tax, either McDonalds will be forced to be healthier, or something healthier will be the preferred choice. At which point there will be more competition in the healthy food industry, giving consumers more choice and therefore lower prices?

But anyway, it doesn't need to be organic to be healthy. Root vegetables are an easy way to get your carb needs without spending loads or being a fatty. People just need to be less fussy and more conscious of how much it costs their health service to eat like you don't give a shit.

[V-Pig]

I eat wholemeal pitta bread with tuna or hummus in at lunch.

[GP]

Hippy

[Syn]

Well presumably the market would adjust it. If it costs too much to eat at McDonalds, people will go elsewhere. If it all costs too much because of a fat tax, either McDonalds will be forced to be healthier, or something healthier will be the preferred choice. At which point there will be more competition in the healthy food industry, giving consumers more choice and therefore lower prices?

But anyway, it doesn't need to be organic to be healthy. Root vegetables are an easy way to get your carb needs without spending loads or being a fatty. People just need to be less fussy and more conscious of how much it costs their health service to eat like you don't give a shit.

In the long-term, possibly. The immediate effects would be that if people want more healthy stuff now, prices of those will rise further. I'm not sure how demand-driven the (basic) food industry is. The current rising prices have just been a consequence of the rising costs.

I'm sure it is affordable to eat healthily in the UK as long as you can cook. Pasta, rice, vegetables. Was just wondering how you could live to 78+ if you were pathetically lazy (I still use paper plates...).

[Syn]

I eat wholemeal pitta bread with tuna or hummus in at lunch.

Have you been to Hummus Bros?

Honestly, it'll change your life.

[V-Pig]

No, but I want to now...

[LDG]

Had a veg and lentil chilli last night. Was awesome.

I spend about £15 on food a week, and usually have anough left by for the following week....

Learning how to cook is most people's problem. If people knew how to make homemade meals rather than shit from the shelf, they wouldn't need to buy the crap anyway.

[Marc Overmars]

It's all about convenience isn't it. We don't want to do anything we percieve to be taxing after a day at work/uni or whatever. So cooking can GTFO when there are more important things to do like drink beer.

I learnt how to cook after my first year at uni, at the end of the year I realised I must have spent a shit load on takeaways and ready meals. So I just looked up a few recipies and went from there.

Stir-Frys are the best cheap, healthy and easy option to cook. 20 mins, nom. Beer time.

[V-Pig]

Bought a food steamer today. *Pretentious middle-class wannabe-hippy wanker*

[fakeyank]

I eat healthily and cheaply and easily. Basically, I eat a lot of sweet potato and reduced-fat hummus and fruit and veg. They're not expensive. They're not even hard to prepare. Sweet potato gets microwaved for 10 minutes, courgette gets lightly fried for a couple of minutes, etc.

Does it taste good though?

[Xhaka Can’t]

Does it taste good though?

I always tell the ladies it does.

[V-Pig]

It tastes good to me, but then I don't really do tasting. I just eat. I eat too quickly so I don't really notice what I'm eating. If you're a connoisseur, you'd probably get bored shitless on my diet.

[MissHandbag]

Why the hell should everybody be charged a tax for food that most people eat in moderation and aren't fat?

I do think that lazy people who've been on benefits for years because they're lazy or because they play the can't work cos I have 6 mayfair smoking kids to support should be given vouchers not money and not allowed to buy cigarettes, alcohol or junk food with those vouchers though.