XPost: soc.culture.canada, can.atlantic.general, can.general 
 XPost: can.politics, can.taxes, soc.culture.quebec 
 From: abc@a123.ca 
  
 Growing debate over fat tax 
  
 BY CHRISTINA FRANGOU,MARCH 1, 2011 
  
 Customers won€t be deterred by a few extra cents in tax, says Marvin 
 Garriott, behind the counter at Marv€s Classic Soda Shop in Black 
 Diamond. He opposes a tax on sugary drinks, saying education would be 
 more effective. 
  
 Will Canadians be healthier if they pay a few pennies of extra tax on 
 junk food and pop? 
  
 That's a hot question lately € particularly in Ottawa, where a number of 
 prominent organizations have presented arguments to the standing 
 committee on health this month. 
  
 They're calling for reforms to Canada's rules on food taxes. Put simply, 
 they want food taxes brought closer in line with Health Canada's 
 recommendations on healthy eating. 
  
 "Right now, it doesn't make any sense," says Manuel Arango, assistant 
 director of health policy at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. 
 "For instance, one doughnut is taxed but if you buy six, they're not. 
 That's perverse." 
  
 Other groups that support tax changes to encourage healthier eating 
 habits include the Canadian Medical Association, Centre for Science in 
 the Public Interest and Quebec's Weight Coalition. 
  
 Calgarian Chris Bruggencate wholeheartedly supports the idea of taxing 
 junk foods and high-calorie drinks. He eats healthily but the good-for- 
 him choice is rarely the most affordable, he says. 
  
 He doesn't expect the food industry to change without a push from 
 government and consumers. "Their goal isn't the well-being of the 
 consumer € their goal, understandably, is to make a profit." 
  
 A tax on candy, high-calorie takeout food and the like would make 
 vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables more attractive to consumers, says 
 Bruggencate. 
  
 In Canada, the GST is applied to some foods and drinks but not all, with 
 some provinces adding additional levies. Among the tax quirks in Canada: 
 a tray of cut fruit is taxed but salty caviar, depending on where it's 
 bought, is not. A pre-made salad is taxed but six brownies are not. 
  
 "There's not even anything approximating coherence between what Health 
 Canada advises people to eat and what the Department of Finance applies 
 taxes to," said Bill Jeffery, the Canadian director of the Centre for 
 Science in the Public Interest. 
  
 Jeffery wants to see an end to all taxes on fruits and vegetables, no 
 matter where they are sold. "French fries, OK. But don't tax broccoli and 
 cauliflower and peas and sweet potatoes." 
  
 "And for heavens' sake," he adds, "don't exempt bacon, lard and chicken 
 wings." 
  
 The debate isn't just being waged in Ottawa. It's impacting the lives of 
 people across the country. 
  
 "Healthy groceries are so expensive € I'd love it if healthier foods were 
 cheaper," says Brie Roche, a Calgary mom to a three-month-old girl. 
  
 But getting a tax on unhealthy food € a tax that's often crudely referred 
 to as a "fat tax," much to the ire of both critics and advocates € is no 
 piece of cake. The idea is a controversial one with critics who include 
 economists, the food and beverage industry, small business owners and 
 many consumers. 
  
 They protest for several reasons: the tax would be difficult to 
 implement, the benefits are questionable and the poorest Canadians are 
 likely to feel it the most. 
  
 "I don't think a tax is going to make any difference to anyone's diet," 
 says Marvin Garriott, owner of Marv's Classic Soda Shop in Black Diamond, 
 Alta., a 1950s-style shop that serves candy, ice cream, malts, burgers 
 and a dozen kinds of soda. 
  
 Customers who want a soda, burger or steak won't be deterred by a few 
 extra cents in tax, he says. 
  
 "If they've got the money, they'll spend it. If they want it, they'll 
 order it." 
  
 Education about portion sizes would do more to whittle down appetites 
 than a tax on pop, he says. "To me, that's nothing but a tax grab." 
  
 But advocates argue that a junk food or soda tax would offer significant 
 benefits even if Canadians keep tucking into foods like chips and 
 chocolate. 
  
 The revenue generated by these taxes could be used to combat obesity 
 through education programs or by subsidizing healthier foods, they say. 
  
 The percentage of Canadians who are overweight or obese has risen 
 dramatically over the last two decades, mirroring a worldwide phenomenon. 
 Currently, 59 per cent of adult Canadians are either overweight or obese. 
  
 No study has conclusively set a dollar figure on how much obesity costs 
 the Canadian health care system but it is believed to be substantial. One 
 analysis from researchers in British Columbia found the total direct 
 costs attributable to overweight and obese Canadians were $6 billion in 
 2006 € or about 4.1 per cent of the total health expenditures. 
  
 The key is to make high-quality food available to more people, says Dr. 
 John Turnbull, an Ottawa doctor and president of the Canadian Medical 
 Association. 
  
 Turnbull treats Ottawa's homeless and working poor € people who would 
 have a very hard time paying extra tax on things like a large pop or a 
 high-calorie takeout meal. Often, those are foods his patients rely on. 
 They lack the money for fruits and vegetables, and the kitchens to 
 prepare them. They don't own cars to get to a grocery store. 
  
 Yet Turnbull supports taxing unhealthy foods if the money generated is 
 used to make healthy foods more affordable. 
  
 "That's a good opportunity," he says, adding that funds raised should 
 also be used to improve exercise programs and increase education about 
 nutrition. 
  
 It will take community-wide efforts to reverse obesity trends, he adds. 
  
 "We've had some very significant societal changes that have contributed 
 to this problem and now we have to think how do we, as a society, 
 encourage a more active lifestyle, an improved diet. Taxation may be one 
 part of that." 
  
 A tax on junk food is one way the government can "nudge" people toward 
 better eating habits, says Kim Wagner-Jones, a dietitian at the 
 University of Calgary Sports Medicine Centre. 
  
 With enough nudges, people will change, she says. Previous research has 
 shown that little changes do impact people's food choices. Put healthy 
 food at eye level and youth are more likely to buy it. Take away food 
 trays in cafeterias, and food and beverage waste dropped between 30 and 
 50 per cent. 
  
 "A tax is another small nudge. Some others would be things like better 
 urban planning, more walkable communities, more variety of healthy foods 
 in the grocery stores." 
  
 Research shows people are influenced by small changes in food prices. 
  
 In one analysis from researchers at Yale University's Rudd Center for 
 Food Policy and Obesity, researchers found that a 10 per cent increase in 
 soft drink prices could reduce consumption by eight per cent to 10 per 
 cent € although they caution the results vary greatly. 
  
 In another American study, researchers tested whether a drop in the price 
  
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