More than one-third of Americans support a meat tax |
Meat has been one of the foods most affected by inflation, but despite high prices, a new survey found that 37% of participants said they would support an extra 10% meat tax to cut consumption. The survey from Veylinx, a consumer research company, was conducted in March among 3,538 US consumers over the age of 18. In 2011, the Danish government implemented a saturated tax fat, which raised prices on items like meat and eggs, but the plan was scrapped a year later over concerns about food prices and jobs. A study published in Nature found that the Danish tax reduced saturated fat intake by 4%. Since then, cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Berkeley, California have passed soda taxes, and the experience has taught public health groups how to more clearly communicate what taxes on food would mean for US consumers, said Marco Springmann, a senior researcher in population health at University of Oxford. In the US, opponents say that a meat tax could disproportionately hurt low-income communities where access to fresh fruit and vegetables is limited, and for whom meat is more accessible.