Expensive Junk Foods for a Slimmer America

Picture this scenario: You come to your favorite grocery store. In the fruits and vegetables section, you noticed that all the prices were slashed to half. Grapes that used to be $2/lb became 99 cents. Bags of lettuce and spinach that used to be $4 were now only $1.85. Then on the other side of the street, you walk in to McDonald's and you see something even more bizarre: Value meals are now $15 for every small bag of fries, burger and soda!

What happened? No, it's not because of the recession. It's the world turned upside down! America, apparently, has seen its days of affluence. Americans continually learn that having a lot of available foods - whether good or bad -- has such great impact on the society. If only the government would put heavy taxes on fast food and bring down the prices of healthy foods, then there would be less obese people among us.

This is what The Milbank Quarterly reported in the study "Food Prices and Obesity: Evidence and Policy Implications for Taxes and Subsidies". The vast majority of people in the world worry about what to eat the next day, while Americans wonder how which ice cream brand is the best for afternoon snacking. Given the current economic crisis, the study sheds light on the possibilities of change in our gastronomic culture.

The question is, if the government does impose heavy taxes on junk foods and lower the prices of nutritious eats, would Americans change their eating habits? I cast my doubts, since even the healthiest eaters indulge in sinful dinners sometimes. Yet it's an option to consider. When this happens, and obese Americans are one in a billion, maybe the next question to ask is: What are we going to do in the next 100 years of our long, healthy lives?