- Healthy Snacks
Of all the annoying political commercials leading up to the current election, the one urging us to vote for Initiative 1107 ticks me off the most. In an era of ever-increasing American obesity, especially among our children, it is hard for me to understand how anyone can object to a tax on “snack foods.” How in the world did we get to the place where we feel that snacks are a God-given right and very probably guaranteed by the Constitution?
When did the term “snack food” come into being anyway? When I was a kid and when my kids were kids, we occasionally had snacks. Usually a snack was something we conjured up out of the refrigerator when we were on our way somewhere and didn’t have time for a real sit-down meal, an occurrence which was a rarity in itself. Snacks were not something we ate anytime, anywhere. Snacks did not come in convenient little packages that mothers could stuff in pockets or in lunch boxes.
In those days there were no vending machines full of snacks in schools. Kids were not allowed to eat during class and we weren’t swilling from bottles of water like babies from nursing bottles. We had to ask to go out into the hall to use the drinking fountain and very often the answer was “no.” We didn’t have pocket money to spend on candy. In fact, candy was such a special treat that buying it with one’s own precious money seemed somewhat sinful and was to be avoided except at the movies on Saturday afternoons. Did we feel deprived? No. Were we obese? No. Most of us were skinny and most of us were healthy.
It pains me that we have become such an indulgent society that we now seem intent upon killing our children with ‘kindness.’ Out of curiosity I looked up food terms that are relatively recent and found: comfort food, convenience food, fast food, food court, health food, junk food, novel food, slow food, and food mile. Other terms that might have been around for a bit longer included food bank, food coupon, food processor, and food stamp. I’m sure there are more. We are obsessed!
Well, let me begin by confessing that I’m a fatty! I’m in no position to criticize what people eat. Yet, I also do not support the 1107 campaign. It is remarkable in that they did not hide their sources of income. It’s the beverage industry. and the Farm Bureau. Since when did soda, snacks and candy become classified as food! They’re treats, with little food value. As for Ken Eikenberry and his PAC, what a load of bluster.
The tax as it stands could use some tweaking (what tax couldn’t?) but the effects on “Food” is minimal and the revenue is absolutely needed by the state.
I don’t remember coming home and getting a snack. I remember getting to the dinner table on time.
I’m of two minds. Part of me thinks that we sometimes expect the government to be too parental, but on the other hand junk food, things high in sugar and high fructose corn syrup, are causing the percentage of children who are obese to grow exponentially and the low income children who acquire Type II diabetes will require medical treatment at the government’s expense so maybe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. All of that said, the fact of the matter is that it was a poorly written bill because some candy bars are not taxed while some organic cookies are. Maybe we need to start over and make sure that we are taxing just the bad stuff. According to KING-TV the ad is deceptive regarding some of the locally made products allegedly being taxed while out-of-state similar products are not. That taxation has nothing to do with the current tax under attack, but on some of the ingredients of those processed foods (which are coincidentally bad for you) while we cannot control whether or not other states tax those ingredients. As with all laws it’s enough to make your head spin. Personally, my mother was similar to June Clever and frequently had home made cookies and milk when I got home.