Should meat be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes?

By Heather Moore
Sun Sentinel
sun-sentinel.com
Thursday, April 16, 2015

At this time of year, the last thing anyone wants to
think about is paying more taxes. But there's one tax I'm
in favor of - and you should be, too, if you care about
your health and the health of the planet: a sin tax on
meat, cheese and other animal-based foods.

If Congress were to levy a 10-cent tax on every pound of
meat sold in grocery stores and restaurants - and a
modest sin tax on each dairy item and carton of eggs - it
would not only stimulate the economy but also give people
yet another incentive to give tasty vegan foods a try,
which would then help to reduce the nation's health care
costs and its Sasquatch-size carbon footprint.

Americans have to pay excise taxes on cigarettes, alcohol
and gasoline to help offset the health and environmental
costs of these items, so it's not too much of a leap to
expect people to pay extra for unhealthy - and
unnecessary - foods that harm people and animals, waste
resources and contribute to climate change.

Before you balk at the thought of more taxes, consider
this: We pay a tax on gasoline in order to motivate us to
conserve fossil fuels, which in turn is aimed at reducing
pollution and combating climate change, so shouldn't we
also pay a tax on animal-based foods for the very same
reasons?

According to the United Nations, the production of meat
and dairy foods requires more resources and causes more
greenhouse-gas emissions than the production of plant-
based foods. It takes roughly 1,000 gallons of water to
produce just 1 gallon of milk, and it takes about 11
times more fossil fuel to produce a gram of animal
protein than to produce a gram of plant protein.

Continues at:

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Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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