D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
March 2010
Fat Chance
Some state legislators and opinion leaders need a lesson in nutrition.
The hysteria over the New Mexico state Senate's proposed "tortilla tax" would be laughable if it didn't betray such a vast ignorance about nutrition and public health, not only among the populace at large but among "opinion leaders." The proposal would have restored the gross-receipts tax on foods not on the list of nutritious items approved by the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. It would have raised an estimated $138 million next year to help close New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns-like budget hole.
A legitimate argument could be made that the proposal was simply too complicated and would have placed too big a burden on grocery stores. (Such stores already must differentiate between untaxed food items and taxable non-food merchandise they sell, however.)
But, judging by the uproar, you'd think the Senate had proposed taxing motherhood as well as hot dogs and apple pie.
Take those tortillas, for example. The tax would have hit only tortillas made from refined white flour, not the traditional corn tortillas so beloved in the land of "red or green?" nor tortillas made from whole-wheat flour. If our legislators (at least those in the House who voted 11-0 to kill the proposal in committee) don't understand the difference — or its impact on the human body — some serious education is called for before they're next allowed to vote on measures affecting public health.
White flour has most of its nutritive value and dietary fiber — found in the bran and germ of wheat — processed out of it, leaving mostly calories and carbs. The current federal dietary guidelines recommend switching half your intake of grains to whole grains, such as whole wheat. The health benefits of whole grains range from improved cardiovascular health to protection against age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans.
Processed foods and added sugar are also among the chief culprits in the nation's epidemics of obesity and diabetes. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 60% of New Mexico adults and a frightening 33% of children are overweight or obese. Since 1990, according to the state Department of Health, the percentage of New Mexicans who are overweight or obese has doubled. An estimated 84,000 adults in New Mexico are currently diagnosed with diabetes, and 80% of them are overweight or obese.
The burden of unhealthy eating is not only medical but economic. According to a 2004 study, New Mexico spends an estimated $324 million annually on direct adult medical expenditures (preventive, diagnostic and treatment services) that can be attributed to obesity. Among these millions, $51 million is spent within the Medicare population and a disproportionately high $84 million is spent within the Medicaid population — a cost that directly affects the state's budget.
So it's not unreasonable — certainly not as crazy as critics of the plan seemed to think — to levy a tax that makes consumers of less-nutritious foods pay for more of the financial burden of their bad habits. (Just as an extra $1 a pack on cigarettes represents a fair sharing of the enormous medical costs associated with tobacco.) Such a sweeping tax might not change many people's grocery-shopping habits, but it couldn't hurt — and $138 million is hardly chump change.
To his credit, as the regular session was running down, Gov. Bill Richardson reversed himself on tobacco taxes and suggested the "tortilla tax" might be more tightly focused on "junk food," candy and soda. Considering that sugar-sweetened sodas are now the number-one source of calories for US teens, such a move makes sense and might have a more targeted health impact, if not as big a boost to the state's bottom line.
Small-Town Successes
Welcoming back Southwest Gardener and Sun Valley Hardware.
This issue we welcome back Vivian Savitt's Southwest Gardener column, which runs seasonally from March through October. It's a sign of spring and warmer weather readers have learned to look forward to.
In other Desert Exposure news, we're happy to report that copies are once again available at Sun Valley Hardware in Silver City. Thanks to the intervention of Larel Rae Crispin, general manager of the Silver City store, Sun Valley's outstanding balance was swiftly settled and our stand welcomed back. It's worth noting that Larel is a Silver City native and lifelong local who understands "small town values." We appreciate her help and that of co-owner Chuck Watkins, as we do the many loyal Desert Exposure readers who made their opinions heard.
It will be nice to be able to shop at a hardware store nearer our office again, too.
The whole brouhaha, which we brought to readers' attention because of its effect on you, not because of the small financial dispute, also points up once again the importance of our advertisers and of the locations that allow us to distribute there. Without the support of our hundreds of advertisers and the hospitality of hundreds of distribution outlets, Desert Exposure would cease to exist.
Thanks for voicing your support in the rare instance when such relationships get temporarily soured. But please remember, too, to thank those advertisers and distribution locales that it's all too easy to take for granted. (If your favorite store isn't advertising, of course, you might want to suggest they do so.)
"Thanks for advertising in Desert Exposure!" or "Thanks for carrying Desert Exposure!" would mean a lot to those folks. And if you feel like getting carried away and adding, "It's my favorite publication" — well, who are we to stop you?
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.