“25% off of all hamburgers today at the Deli Market!” You stand at the sign in the store. The big bold red letters stare back at your face as you stand there thinking. You watch thousands of people scurry past you as they run over to reach the hamburgers. You walk over to the vegetables and see they are the same price as last time. They are never on sale. That’s why everyone just gets the hamburgers. They are so much cheaper. Therefore, the expensive price of healthy foods make customers not want to buy it. This makes junk food more popular, and causes people to overeat. Why is junk food not taxed to decrease consumption?  Unfortunately, many people suffer from eating lots of junk food on a daily basis. Many people are overweight or obese and sitting in hospital beds due to the excess load of junk food on their bodies.  Junk food should be taxed to discourage consumption due to many reasons. 

Indeed, junk food is unhealthy and causes diseases, while healthy food improves health. Therefore, healthy food has many benefits to the human body, while eating junk food has many cons. In the article, “NTRC Pushes for Junk Food Tax,” the text states, “Frequent consumers of junk food are 51 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression, while people who consume junk food even once a week increase their risks for heart disease by 20 percent” (Caraballo 2).  Thus, people eating junk food regularly are more prone to getting viruses and diseases than people who eat healthy. Eating junk food increases peoples’ rates of getting diseases, which means the rate of people sitting in hospital beds has increased. To avoid this, junk food should be taxed to keep the country safe and healthy, as less people get sick and have diseases. Furthermore, the article, “Tax on Junk Food Can Help Pay the Costs of Diet-Related Diseases,” states, “Studies have shown that school organic garden salad bars and healthy lunches improve the health and academic performance of young people” (Cummins 1). Society should be eating more healthy to improve their immune systems. In addition, healthy food helps with academic performance which will enhance better behavior at school, causing students to learn better. Therefore, eating healthy should be promoted by having it be at a lower price than junk food. Junk food should be taxed so people go to eat healthy foods by not wanting to pay for the price of junk food after it is taxed. Moreover, the article, “NTRC Pushes for Junk Food Tax,” reads, “NTRC added that the number one risk factor that drives the most deaths and disability combined in the Philippines is dietary risks” (Caraballo 2). Dietary risks, such as constantly eating junk foods cause deaths and disabilities in people. This is bad for the world as more people suffer because of the after effects of junk food. Hence, junk food should be taxed to discourage consumption to avoid the harmful effects of it. 

Additionally, the tax money from the tax will allow the government to improve the overall health of the country's inhabitants. In the article, “Tax on Junk Food Can Help Pay the Costs of Diet-Related Diseases”, it states, “A 100 percent tax on junk food and beverages would help pay for the collateral damages of this industry; the $150 billion in diet related disease and health care costs now incurred by the public and tax payers by obesity and diabetes” (Cummins 1). This shows that the government is in debt from all the money they use toward health care costs. This can be solved if less people are sick and infected with diseases due to their diets. If junk food is taxed, the money will go to the government to help with the costs, and less people will consume junk food, keeping the community more healthy. Moreover, the article, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables,” states, “By profiting as a society from the foods that are making us sick, and using those funds to make us healthy, the US would gain the same kind of prestige that we did by attacking smoking” (Bittman 1).  Hence, junk food tax will profit the government as they will utilize the money for good costs. Junk food tax will work effectively similar to how the US did by attacking smoking. Society will benefit from the junk food taxes, and so will the government. On top of that, in the article, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables,” it reads, “A study by Y. Claire Wang, an assistant professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, predicted that a penny tax per ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages in New York State would save $3 billion in health care costs over the course of a decade, prevent something like 37,000 cases of diabetes and bring in $1 billion annually” (Bittman 1). Junk food tax will provide a healthier world as the funds for the government will also grow annually. Besides, the money goes toward health care costs, preventing many diseases, which is much better for the world. For that reason, junk food should be taxed to discourage consumption. 

In conclusion, junk food should be taxed to discourage consumption because it can lead to diseases, increase obesity rates, and the tax money from the tax will allow the government to improve the overall health of the country's inhabitants. Junk food tax will help prevent diseases caused by bad food choices, and help pay for health care costs around the world. Although, some may argue that for people living in poverty, junk food tax would not be the best. However, junk food is inexpensive, and therefore people living in poverty buy that only. As a result, they get addicted to processed foods with high sugar contents. If junk food is taxed, then consumption will be reduced, as people will look more towards healthy food. People in poverty become obese and have to look after their health. To resolve this, in order for obesity rates to decrease, it is necessary for junk food to be less accessible for everyone, and healthy food more accessible.  Junk food increases risks of getting diseases, and causes poor nutrition. The tax money can also help with health care costs, and help make a more healthful society. Evidence and analysis proves that junk food should be taxed to discourage consumption.