Annotated Bibliography On Theme Of Obesity Crisis
Souter, J. (2017, November 27). The Government Has Been Meddling in Food and Nutrition for a Long Time. Cloud flare. https://fee.org/articles/the-government-has-been-meddling-in-food-and-nutrition-for-a-long-time/
Souter explores the role played by the government as far as nutrition is concerned to the detriment of its population. The article emphasizes more on the actions of the government in food regulation, whose ultimate result is market failure in this industry. The writer argues that the shoddy science guidelines and policies related to food and nutrition, such as food quotas and import tariffs enforced by government forces, are the masterminds behind the problem of obesity. Hence, people should shift their blame from the market and corporations and instead direct their grievances to the federal government. The author outlines the roles and responsibilities of the government agencies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), whose mandate is to inform the public on food safety issues comprehensively. Unfortunately, the distinction in their jurisdictions serves only to confuse the public more since they monitor different aspects of similar foods. Hence, such a situation creates leeway to shift public outcry and negative press to other market players in case of issues in the food industry.
Shughart II, W. F., & Thomas, M. D. (2016, April 26). Taxes on unhealthy food are ineffective and hurt the poor. The Independent Institute. https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=9057
The writers of this article, Shughart and Thomas, have extensive knowledge on this particular subject. This is because of their vast expertise in Business and Economics in their various professional capacities. They analyze numerous implications of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages on the lower class individuals. The authors elaborate that the genesis of this unfortunate occurrence is the purchasing habits of consumers in their response to changes in prices of fast foods. Such that, with the rise in prices, the rich can easily substitute unhealthy foods with healthy alternatives to beat the high costs. Consequently, the low-income consumers are left to cope with the burden of high taxes relative to their high consumption levels of such meals. This article further describes the hidden reasons that contribute to low-income individuals consuming highly taxed unhealthy foods. The authors associate this problem with reasons such as the limited options of healthier foods around poor neighborhoods, low cooking abilities, inaccessibility of stores as well as time pressures. The authors point out that the regressive taxes continually overburden the vulnerable segments of society because of their limited exposure to information on healthy living. Subsequently, their priority to having a quality life only comes once a person has dealt with the current state of their stomach. Ultimately, the low-income individuals are left to gamble with unhealthy foods and the higher taxes imposed on them.
References
Shughart II, W. F., & Thomas, M. D. (2016, April 26). Taxes on unhealthy food are ineffective and hurt the poor. The Independent Institute. https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=9057
Souter, J. (2017, November 27). The Government Has Been Meddling in Food and Nutrition for a Long Time. Cloud flare. https://fee.org/articles/the-government-has-been-meddling-in-food-and-nutrition-for-a-long-time/
