Issues: Healthy Foods Initiative

Eliminating the 7 percent sales tax on healthy foods, while maintaining the tax on junk foods would achieve 2 goals. First, it would make healthy foods—which studies have shown are 10 times as expensive as unhealthy, high-calorie foods – more affordable. Second, by eliminating the tax only on healthy foods, the state of Mississippi would continue to receive revenues from the purchase of unhealthy foods

Mississippi is one of only two states left that still fully taxes food purchased for home consumption.  Currently seventeen states and D.C. currently have laws that tax foods of low nutritional value, including Mississippi neighbors Arkansas and Tennessee.

F as in Fat

F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2009 is a study from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study found that 31.7 percent of adults in Mississippi qualify as obese.

Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children (ages 10 to 17) at 44.4 percent.

“Reversing the childhood obesity epidemic is a critical ingredient for delivering a healthier population and making health reform work,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., RWJF president and CEO. “If we can prevent the current generation of young people from developing the serious and costly chronic conditions related to obesity, we can not only improve health and quality of life, but we can also save billions of dollars and make our health care systems more efficient and sustainable.”
While some policies designed to promote physical activity and good nutrition have been introduced in Mississippi, the report’s findings suggest that these policies are not progressive enough to reverse obesity trends. This is the fifth year in a row that Mississippi has ranked number 1 in adult obesity. The state has also been at or near the top of the rankings in childhood obesity.

The report specifically recommends a proposal of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program to remove the grocery tax on healthy foods items and leave the sales tax on unhealthy or “junk” foods.

Click here to read the report.

Preventing Childhood Obesity

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) produced Local Government Action to Prevent Childhood Obesity, a report that serves as a practical guide for government officials at the city, town, township or county level who want to take action to address healthy eating and active living.

This report recommends 58 action steps organized under 15 broad strategies. The IOM Committee also highlighted some of the most promising strategies across the report with the greatest potential to make a difference based on available research as described below:

Healthy Eating:

    Create incentive programs to attract supermarkets and grocery stores to underserved neighborhoods;

      Require menu labeling in chain restaurants to provide consumers with calorie information on in-store menus and menu boards;

        Mandate and implement strong nutrition standards for foods and beverages available in government-run or regulated after-school programs, recreation  
                  centers, parks, and child-care facilities, including limiting access to unhealthy foods and beverages;

          Implement a tax strategy to discourage consumption of foods and beverages that have minimal nutritional value, such as sugar sweetened beverages.

          Click Here to read the report.

          Get Involved

          As a restructuring of the state’s tax policy is being considered by lawmakers and the Governor’s Tax Study Commission, there should be great consideration to changing the state’s grocery tax policy. Learn more about and get involved in the issues affecting the healthy foods tax by visiting the MHAP Action Center. 

          Policy & Reports