Anti-tax: A bunch of wasted effort

It has been estimated that for every 8-10 percent increase in the price of sodas, consumption will experience about a ten percent decrease. While this could potentially help address some obesity issues, most would still remain unresolved. Solving obesity does not only consist of cutting down on the calories; Someone who is overweight must replace junk food with something healthy to lose weight.

Everyone knows it is more expensive to maintain a healthy diet than a poor one, and healthy foods are becoming increasingly more expensive each year. As one source in the New York Times said, "Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods."

Rather than raising soda prices, the government would do better to find some way to aim subsidies at producing more fruits and vegetables. Then, the cost of healthy eating would decrease, and people would be more motivated to buy healthy foods. Also, the poor who normally eat low nutrient foods because of their low cost would also have opportunities to have a better diet and standard of living.

The soda tax does little to create an incentive for people to eat healthily. Prevention through lower produce costs would be more effective.