HEALTH

The Navajo Nation Council has approved a 2% increase in sales tax for certain foods sold on the 27,000-square-mile reservation, becoming the first region in the country that may install a so-called “junk food tax.” (Indian Country Today)

This week is Geography Awareness Week, celebrating the Geography of Food! This week, our Current Event Connection blog posts will focus on Food in the News, exploring food as a dynamic, diverse interconnection between health, politics, the environment, and business.

Today, we look at how junk food impacts politics and health on the Navajo Nation. Use our resources to access a collection of grade-specific, standards-aligned “Big Ideas” to supplement align to this and other food content.

Discussion Ideas

• Junk food is in the news a lot these days: July 21 is Junk Food Day. Some folks celebrated November 16 as Fast Food Day (prompting the Union of Concerned Scientists to ask: “Is McDonald’s secret ingredient deforestation?”) The Indian Country Today article talks about a proposed tax on junk food sold in the Navajo Nation. So, what exactly is “junk food”?
  • Junk food is a loosely defined, derisive term for packaged foods and beverages that are low in nutrients and high in sugar, salt, and fat.
  • The experts at WebMD say “One problem with junk foods is that they’re low in satiation value—that is, people don’t tend to feel as full when they eat them—which can lead to overeating. Another problem is that junk food tends to replace other, more nutritious foods.”
    • For a more balanced diet, the experts at the Mayo Clinic offer “10 kid-friendly tips for quick and healthy snacks.”
  • Can you think of some junk foods you eat? (WebMD says most junk food” falls into categories of “snack food,” “fast food,” or breakfast cereals.)

 

• The Indian Country Today article talks about a proposed tax on junk food sold in the Navajo Nation. So, what exactly is a tax? How would the “junk food tax” proposed in the Healthy Diné Nation Act work?
  • According to our glossary, a tax is money or goods citizens provide to government in return for public services such as military protection. There are different forms of taxes: income taxes (based on the money you earn at work); sales taxes (based on what you buy); or property taxes (based on the real estate or goods you own), for instance.
  • The junk food tax would be a sales tax. People buying junk food at stores on the Navajo Nation would be charged 7% of the good’s price in taxes. So, if a customer bought a candy bar priced at $1, it would cost $1.07 with the tax. (Right now, such customers pay a 5% sales tax, so that $1 candy bar is $1.05 with tax.)
  • The public services provided by the junk food tax would include “wellness centers, parks, basketball courts, trails, swimming pools, picnic grounds and health education classes.”

 

• Why is the junk food tax controversial?
  • Critics say such a tax restricts personal freedom and a healthy, supply-and-demand economic atmosphere.

 

• Have other nations or regions established a junk food tax, sometimes called a “fat tax”?
  • Yes. Denmark established a junk food tax in 2011. It was unpopular and ended after a year.
  • There are not taxes aimed at junk foods anywhere in the United States, although the idea has been around for a while and received some support.

 

• Have other nations or regions tried other ways to regulate citizens’ diets?
  • Yes. Perhaps the most famous regulation came in 2006, when New York became the first city to ban trans fats in its restaurants. Click here to read more about trans fats and that effort to ban them. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it will be taking steps to eliminate artificial trans fats from its list of foods “generally recognized as safe.”

 

• Have other nations or regions tried taxes to discourage other unhealthy behaviors?
  • Yes. These taxes are known as “sin taxes” or “Pigovian taxes.” A sin tax is a tax applied to an activity that generates negative externalities (costs for somebody else). Some examples of sin taxes might be:
    • tobacco tax (imposed on consumers buying cigarettes or other tobacco products)
    • alcohol tax (imposed on consumers buying drinking alcohol)
    • gambling tax (imposed on “winnings from lotteries, raffles, horse races, and casinos. It includes cash winnings and also the fair market value of prizes such as cars and trips.”)
    • pollution tax (imposed on companies responsible for polluting the water, air, or earth)

 

• When does the new junk food tax become law in the Navajo Nation?
  • It may not. Navajo President Ben Shelly still has to sign the Healthy Diné Nation Act for it to become law. He’s vetoed similar measures before, saying such a “tax will be imposed on the Navajo people, not the food and beverage industry or its distributors.”

 

• The sprawling Navajo Nation encompasses parts of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. (It also surrounds the autonomous Hopi Indian Reservation.) How would the new law impact the state and local laws of these “Four Corners” states?
  • It wouldn’t. The tax would only apply to purchases made in the Navajo Nation.

 

• What kind of impact do experts say the junk-food tax will have on citizens of the Navajo Nation?
  • It depends. According to both Indian Country Today and Al Jazeera America, more than half of the citizens don’t buy food on the reservation itself, so the tax would not apply to them. They get their groceries off the reservation, in cities like Gallup, New Mexico, that have a higher concentration of supermarkets and big-box stores. Click here to learn more about “food sovereignty” and the Navajo Nation.

 

• The primary concern among those supporting the junk food tax is the Navajo rate of diabetes. What is diabetes? (Click here to learn about the disease.)
  • Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to regulate sugar. It is linked to complications including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and loss of eyesight.
  • Diabetes disproportionately impacts Navajo and other Native American communities, with American Indians and Alaska Natives experiences diabetes at 2.3 times the rate of the white population. It’s the fourth leading cause of death among Native Americans.
  • Diabetes is an expensive disease to treat. According to the Indian Country Today article, it can cost one person an estimated $13,000 per year to treat diabetes and a staggering $100,000 or more per year to treat complications related to the disease.

 

• The name of the legislation containing the junk food tax is the Healthy Diné Nation Act, but the focus is on the Navajo Nation. What is the difference between Diné and Navajo?
  • Diné is an older name for the people and culture now known generally as Navajo. As with much Native American nomenclature, the relationship between Diné and Navajo (and Navaho), or Indian and Native American, is complex and politically delicate.

 

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

Indian Country Today: Navajo Nation Council Approves Junk Food Tax to Fight Obesity

Nat Geo: Geography Awareness Week

Nat Geo: food-related blog posts

Nat Geo: Food Education resources

Nat Geo: Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment educator guide

Smithsonian: Frybread

WebMD: Junk Food Facts

Nat Geo: Trans Fats Banned in NYC Restaurants

Investopedia: Pigovian Tax

Al Jazeera America: Exclusive: Navajo Nation report raises concerns on ‘food sovereignty’

Nat Geo: World Diabetes Day