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   From: alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com   
      
   Should meat be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes?   
      
   By Heather Moore   
   Sun Sentinel   
   sun-sentinel.com   
   Thursday, April 16, 2015   
      
   At this time of year, the last thing anyone wants to   
   think about is paying more taxes. But there's one tax I'm   
   in favor of - and you should be, too, if you care about   
   your health and the health of the planet: a sin tax on   
   meat, cheese and other animal-based foods.   
      
   If Congress were to levy a 10-cent tax on every pound of   
   meat sold in grocery stores and restaurants - and a   
   modest sin tax on each dairy item and carton of eggs - it   
   would not only stimulate the economy but also give people   
   yet another incentive to give tasty vegan foods a try,   
   which would then help to reduce the nation's health care   
   costs and its Sasquatch-size carbon footprint.   
      
   Americans have to pay excise taxes on cigarettes, alcohol   
   and gasoline to help offset the health and environmental   
   costs of these items, so it's not too much of a leap to   
   expect people to pay extra for unhealthy - and   
   unnecessary - foods that harm people and animals, waste   
   resources and contribute to climate change.   
      
   Before you balk at the thought of more taxes, consider   
   this: We pay a tax on gasoline in order to motivate us to   
   conserve fossil fuels, which in turn is aimed at reducing   
   pollution and combating climate change, so shouldn't we   
   also pay a tax on animal-based foods for the very same   
   reasons?   
      
   According to the United Nations, the production of meat   
   and dairy foods requires more resources and causes more   
   greenhouse-gas emissions than the production of plant-   
   based foods. It takes roughly 1,000 gallons of water to   
   produce just 1 gallon of milk, and it takes about 11   
   times more fossil fuel to produce a gram of animal   
   protein than to produce a gram of plant protein.   
      
   Continues at:   
      
   http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/sfl-should-meat-b   
   -taxed-as-a-sin-tax-20150410-story.html#   
      
   Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi   
   Om Shanti   
      
   http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)