906_Group_P3

Position Paper – Part Three

Name: Joanna Duda

Instructions: Please use this form as an organizer for writing your portion of your group position paper. You will be writing the third part of the paper. You should clearly and thoroughly document the results of your interviews regarding the final solution that your group has decided on to solve the problem that you are addressing. You may use your own research and the research from other members of your group to address any objections or concerns that were raised by those interviewed. Be sure to follow the MLA citation format that you used when completing your JRP. Your portion of the paper should be a minimum of one page in length.

V. We interviewed individuals to see what their response would be to my plan. Their responses are as follows.

Mrs. Yu said: "Taxing on fast food would not balance out healthy and unhealthy food. I don't think it matters whether fast food chains tax because people will still buy it. It's their own judgment whether they want to eat healthy or not, and fast food should be something they "treat" themselves to once in awhile, not something they eat more than once a week. As for Medicare, Medicaid, etc...Regardless of tax, people are still going to eat fast food and the companies would rake in billions of dollars so let the government continue to tax fast food so that the government could use the money for good things."

Mr. Peng said: "I think that if the government can provide all of America with Medicare and keep taxes high on fast food it will benefit America greatly. Those who need medical aid and can't afford will have their needs met. All while the issues with diabetes and obesity that continues to grow annually will at least help lower the rise in these areas due to the new high pricing that makes Americans eat "cheap" but unhealthy. So it could be that those who get Medicare will be able to use and those who are unhealthy could be encouraged to eat healthier since the cost is similar."

Mrs. Duda said that raising the taxes on fast food would probably not make a difference for the people that eat unhealthy foods because they would still continue to purchase those foods. She has also mentioned that most likely the obesity rate would not fall due to fast food taxes. One of the positive effects on enforcing higher fast foods laws would be the hope for our health care system to get better and successful.

Mr. Zbaraza said that this seems like a very reasonable law to pass because it could reduce United States obesity rate from going up but even though there is no guarantee that the fast food tax will bring the obesity rate down it is always worth a try. If the fast food tax does not bring our obesity rate down we can hope that it will help United States provide a better health care program for people of all ages and salaries.

VI. Our answers, based on our research, to their objections and concerns are:

Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Duda believe that it is up to the people to chose their diet and that no law can change what people decide to eat. We agree with that but like Mr. Zbaraza said that even though there is no guarantee that the obesity rate will go down and people will chose better diets it is still worth a try. If we, as a nation do not try than we will never know if the fast food tax could work or not. If the fast food tax does not work and bring down the obesity rate down than there still is a plus in adding the tax because due to the tax we still earn some tax money that would help support our health care system.

Mr. Peng believes that enforcing laws on fast food would be a positive solution on the problem that America is facing as a whole. Mr. Peng believes that the fast food tax would be a great solution to our obesity rate and it would also be a great help for our health care system.