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With obesity and diabetes at record levels, many public health experts think governments should tax unhealthy food and drinks. Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, and Mexico have such taxes. So do Berkeley, California and the Navajo Nation. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is waging a high-profile campaign to get Britain to tax sugar, and similar discussions are underway throughout the United States.

Does it make sense to tax soda, sweets, and junk food? Would it improve health? Are there unintended side-effects? Do such taxes unfairly impinge on consumer freedom?

Please join us as an expert panel explores these questions and more.

PROGRAM

Panelists

• Maeve Gearing, research associate, Urban Institute                 
• Baylen Linnekin, adjunct professor, George Mason University Law School
• Donald Marron, director, economic policy initiatives and Institute fellow, Urban Institute
• Y. Claire Wang, co-director, Obesity Prevention Initiative, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Moderator

• Margot Sanger-Katz, health care correspondent, New York Times

EVENT MATERIALS

• Event Agenda 

The program will begin promptly at 12:00 p.m. with lunch available at 11:30 a.m.  For inquiries regarding this event, please contact [email protected]. 

Support for this event has been provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. 

We thank our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. The views expressed are those of the presenters and should not be attributed to our funders, the Urban Institute, or its trustees. Funders do not determine our research findings or the insights and recommendations of our experts. For more information on our funding principles, go to www.urban.org/support.