Would Cheaper Healthy Food Help the UK?

We all know that we should try and eat better in order to improve our health, even if we do indulge in the odd chocolate bar now and then. However, eating healthily can sometimes be fairly expensive, with processed, sugary and fatty foods often being a bit cheaper.

The government has been working on a sugar tax to make these unhealthy treats more expensive in the hopes of cutting down the amount people consume and addressing the obesity crisis. A new campaign, however, is suggesting a different way of doing things that could make healthy eating more accessible for everyone.

#DontTaxHealthy, a campaign group, is calling on the government to cut the price of healthy foods to encourage more people to pop them in their shopping basket over high-sugar products. The group believes that effectively punishing consumers by making them spend more on unhealthy foods isn’t going to get enough people to start eating healthily and won’t help families afford better food.

YouGov research – commissioned by the campaign group –  found that although 62 per cent of UK households said that they are very or fairly concerned about sugar consumption, 40 per cent of 18 to 34 and 30 per cent of all ages struggle to afford healthy food and drinks because they tend to be more expensive. #DontTaxHealthy is suggesting that rather than the standard 20 per cent VAT, the government reduces it to just five per cent on low sugar food and drinks to make them more affordable.

Not only could this mean that a healthy food shop leaves much less of a dent in your wallet, it could also help to address the cost that obesity has on the UK economy, which is estimated to be around £27 billion per year.

#DontTaxHealthy was launched by the founders of UK-based healthy ice cream company OPPO with the organisation Sugarwise, which certifies lower sugar food and drink. They said that lowering the cost of low sugar food and drink will help to reduce the price barrier that stops so many people from being able to make healthy choices.

Tam Fry, a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum, said: “Both the food and drink industry and the UK government have a responsibility to encourage, rather than deter, healthier choices.

“The research released by #DontTaxHealthy clearly shows that shoppers in the UK find healthy food and drink more expensive. Price acts as a barrier to healthier purchases. We need to remove this.”

There is now a petition running that calls on the government to make this change that could help you feed your family healthy food for less. You can find out more about #DontTaxHealthy and sign the petition here.