Let's have a ball and a biscuit, sugar

First, the phrasing: The concept of a “soda tax” isn’t inherently offensive, but calling it a “fat tax” makes it sound a lot like legislated discrimination. I’m all for correcting a food system that makes junk food artificially cheap, but framing it in terms of hitting fat people with financial penalties doesn’t address those problems—it just lends further credence to the myth that fat people are fat because they have an uncontrollable appetite for Twinkies and Coke.

But Twinkies and Coke are only half the problem; making them expensive might deter customers, but it won’t make vegetables cheap. It also won’t make it easier for people in food deserts to access fresh food, and it won’t teach people how to make healthy meals. And what’s really horrifying is that, for people who can literally barely afford to feed their families junk food from the 99-cent store, raising prices on even bad-for-you foods would mean that they basically don’t get to eat enough. So not only would they be malnourished; they’d literally be starving.