The Student Room Group

A healthy food and drink points system

Should things such as:

1) vegetables
2) fruit
3) bottled water
4) white meats such as chicken
5) fish
6) green tea

Etc.

You'd then get a healthy shopping card. All the above items would be barcoded as healthy options. For these options you get 10% value back added on to the card for future shopping.

Therefore if you bought £50 worth of shopping and £12 worth was a healthy option you have 1.20p on the card. The £38 of unhealthy food would not be added. It'd be 10% of £12 only. After 10 trips this is £12 on the card to go towards shopping so you save money.

If you buy £50 of healthy food you get £5 back. After 10 trips you've essentially got a free full shop. You're being rewarded for making healthy choices as opposed to bad ones. The more healthy choices you make the more money you get towards future shopping bills on your card.

It could be 5% or 10% of money back but surely its better than just whacking a tax on crap food as it encourages healthy choices.

Imagine being a student and for every 10 x £25 shopping trip you get the 11th free just because you put veg, fruit and chicken in the basket instead of haribos, bacon and pizzas.

Food should also clearly be labelled with green and red stickers to show what is included and isn't.

Before people say define a healthy food and how would we decide what's included this would be decided by a team of nutritionists in accordance with the NHS - it would go based on nutritional content. Fizzy drinks would be a big no.

What do you think?
Interesting idea. A positive approach could work better than ideas about taxing sugary food, which just cause people to whine "nanny state". It would probably be too expensive to implement, though. It would take a while for the cost benefits to become apparent.
Original post by Philbert
Interesting idea. A positive approach could work better than ideas about taxing sugary food, which just cause people to whine "nanny state". It would probably be too expensive to implement, though. It would take a while for the cost benefits to become apparent.


This, I like it
Yes, that's a great system. I think healthy eating should be rewarded.

I would also like to see a simple 'healthy or unhealthy' stamp on foods. While I know there is a 5-a-day sticker on certain fruit and veg produce, and also the traffic light systems, I don't feel they hit home hard enough. I'm probably being finicky, but it would certainly help me stick to a healthier lifestyle.
(edited 9 years ago)
but then who pays wages for health food producttion? also if taxing sugary food wont a union form - lots o companies use sugar in pasta sauce marinades etc. they could gang up and over rule legislation.
Original post by umfumfumf
but then who pays wages for health food producttion? also if taxing sugary food wont a union form - lots o companies use sugar in pasta sauce marinades etc. they could gang up and over rule legislation.

Nobody mentioned taxing sugary food.
Original post by Sanctimonious
Should things such as:

1) vegetables
2) fruit
3) bottled water
4) white meats such as chicken
5) fish
6) green tea

Etc.

You'd then get a healthy shopping card. All the above items would be barcoded as healthy options. For these options you get 10% value back added on to the card for future shopping.

Therefore if you bought £50 worth of shopping and £12 worth was a healthy option you have 1.20p on the card. The £38 of unhealthy food would not be added. It'd be 10% of £12 only. After 10 trips this is £12 on the card to go towards shopping so you save money.

If you buy £50 of healthy food you get £5 back. After 10 trips you've essentially got a free full shop. You're being rewarded for making healthy choices as opposed to bad ones. The more healthy choices you make the more money you get towards future shopping bills on your card.

It could be 5% or 10% of money back but surely its better than just whacking a tax on crap food as it encourages healthy choices.

Imagine being a student and for every 10 x £25 shopping trip you get the 11th free just because you put veg, fruit and chicken in the basket instead of haribos, bacon and pizzas.

Food should also clearly be labelled with green and red stickers to show what is included and isn't.

Before people say define a healthy food and how would we decide what's included this would be decided by a team of nutritionists in accordance with the NHS - it would go based on nutritional content. Fizzy drinks would be a big no.

What do you think?


It's an idea, and a better one than 'taxing junk food', but I still don't like it very much.

I think the much better solution is to focus on end results i.e. if someone is overweight, they pay a premium for national insurance contribs. If someone is obese, they pay even more. Or, if you want to make it seem like 'positive reinforcement', give people who are normal weight and have good cholesterol levels etc. a rebate on their contribs.

There are many people who are perfectly healthy eating bacon and fast food on a regular basis. They should not be penalised as they do not tax the health system as much as an obese person who overeats supposedly 'healthy' food but does no exercise does. Concentrating on the end result is much less command economy and a heck of a lot more efficient (and less hassle).
(edited 9 years ago)
Why not just make healthy food cheaper?

Let's be honest, if we're talking supermarkets here, they can afford to both pay a fair price for the product they sell, and also price it reasonably for their customers.

Local grocers and butchers sell things cheaper already, so that shouldn't be an issue.

We should also revise our VAT system.

Frozen ready meals are VAT-free for example, but juice is taxed at 20%.

We charge VAT on products which HMRC doesn't feel are food items in their own right, but are actually things which would allow people to make their own healthier food - essential oils, bicarbonate of soda, etc.

Marshmallow teacakes are VAT-free but cereal is taxed at 20%.

Shortbread covered in chocolate is taxable at 20%, but if you add caramel to it it becomes VAT-free.

The only places near me to get cheap fruit and veg are Lidl stores, but these just aren't as abundant as stores like Tesco who have absurd monopolies.

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