Is this a familiar sight? Iceberg lettuce, $10. But chocolate bars, on special, just $1.25.
In the cost-of-living crisis, the price of fruits and vegetables has soared, while junk foods have frequently hit the sales rack. And looking at this, it's not surprising that diets are getting worse in Australia. We're eating fewer fruits and vegetables and opting for more junk foods. And today, sadly...
We see one in five of us die due to poor diets, with heart disease and type 2 diabetes our biggest killers. I'm a public health researcher, and to improve diets and save lives in Australia, I think one of the best things we can do is balance food prices. In the media, you might have seen reports we can restrict price gouging for fruits and vegetables and tax sugary drinks.
This is a great start. But in my PhD, I'll explore a bigger policy that could have a profound effect. To begin, we could put a 20% tax on all junk foods, including confectionery, snack foods, and sugary drinks. I know these foods taste good, but they're killing us, and there's evidence that taxes can be very effective at improving diets, especially for low-income families. Right now, we see 10 countries are already taxing junk foods.
And we previously taxed tobacco and saw smoking rates plummet. So taxing junk foods is a real possibility to improve our diets and save lives in Australia. And importantly, the tax would generate revenue that we could use to subsidize fruits and vegetables and lower their price by around 20%. In essence, this policy could balance food prices.
Would you support this? As part of my PhD, I'm interviewing citizens and policymakers and asking if they'll support this policy and if they think it would work. I'm also building a mathematical model to estimate how this policy could affect our food choices and our health.
Throughout, I'm paying close attention to how this policy could affect the most vulnerable in society. It's early days in my research, but I hypothesize this policy could substantially improve diets and each year prevent thousands of cases. of heart disease and type 2 diabetes from ever occurring.
I also think it could promote equity, as it would empower low-income families to make healthier food choices. Once I'm done, I'll campaign for this policy, and I'll advise the government of its potential benefits. Maybe one day we'll see the reverse situation, where chocolate bars are $10, but iceberg lettuce is just $1.25.
Thank you.