Pricing Policy and a Proposal Letter Supporting it
The Session Long Project entails going through the process of influencing policymakers. Under the Connecticut Health Policy toolbox resource, read the section on “Writing to Policymakers.” You will notice toward the bottom of that page, “sample letters” and “related articles.” Read these sections as you will use them throughout your Session Long Project.
Your Task
For this part of the Session Long Project you will be writing on “supporting a proposal” (see sample letter at the bottom of the Connecticut Health Policy toolbox resource). Write on supporting any proposal that is related to the topic identified in SLP 1. You may choose to advocate for change at the local, state, or national level.
1.Identify your specific health topic and the level you wish to write to (local, state, or national).
2.For this SLP assignment, you will be writing on “supporting a proposal.”
3.Choose one of the related articles on the bottom of the Connecticut Health Policy toolbox (different from the ones you used for SLP 1 & 2). Describe the key points of the article (one paragraph) and how it relates to influencing policymakers (one paragraph).
4.Write a one-page letter, that encompasses the information from the above 3 bullets (on “supporting a proposal”).
Note: The SLP assignment is 2-pages long. The first page addresses bullets 1-3. The second page is a one-page letter on “supporting a proposal” and encompasses information from questions 1-3 (see sample letters for guidance). Remember, your letter addresses “supporting a proposal.”
Required Reading
CDC NPIN. (2012). Health communication strategies. Retrieved October 1, 2013 from http://www(dot)cdcnpin(dot)org/scripts/campaign/strategy.asp
Connecticut Health Policy. (2013a). The health advocacy toolbox: Writing to policy makers. Retrieved October 1, 2013 from http://www(dot)cthealthpolicy(dot)org/toolbox/legislative/writing_policymaker.htm
Hawkes, C. (2012). Food taxes: what type of evidence is available to inform policy development? Nutrition Bulletin, 37(1), 51-56. (Use “Academic Search Complete” search engine in the Library Portal)
Name:
Institution:
Date:
Nutrition
The topic that is selected and relates to Nutrition as a category is food prices and nutrition. Food security and nutritional security are separate concepts but are interlinked. Food security is a vital input that contributes towards nutritional outcomes improvements and is mainly concerned with the physical and economic access to sufficient food in the right amount and quality in a manner that is socially acceptable (World Bank, 2012). Nutritional security is as a result of good health, a healthy environment, and household food security. As the food prices begin to rise, initially, individuals replace pricier foods which in the United States are the healthy foods for cheaper foods hence moving to an unhealthy category of foods (Meerman & Aphane, 2012). This, therefore, results into poor health as individuals depend on cheap and unhealthy categories of foods that have deleterious nutritional health consequences. Prices are, therefore, a key factor in making food choices and; as a result, the food price policies that are taxes or subsidies are proposed to improve the nutritional quality of the dietary intake (Darmon, Lacroix, Muller, & Ruffieux, 2014). I will, therefore, campaign for a tax increase in the unhealthy food "junk food" prices and tax reduction or subsidies for the healthier foods in the entire nation. This is because approximately over two-thirds of Americans are overweight with approximately 30% of them being children who are either overweight or obese. This will be with the aim of establishing the reasons why there is an increased purchase of large quantities of unhealthy foods among school going children and highlighting the relevant public policies relating to prices that promote purchasing of more nutritious foods (Harding & Lovenheim, 2013).
One of the related articles on the area is regarding the effects of prices on nutrition, and the article compares the impact of product and nutrient specific taxes on nutrition. The key point is that taxes that are nutrient specific have a greater effect on nutrition compared to taxes directed towards specific products (Harding & Lovenheim, 2013). However, these nutrient specific taxes do not have a higher cost in regards to consumer utility. The taxation of nutrients greatly influences nutrition with minimal welfare losses compared to those imposed on products due to the broad nature of the taxes (Harding & Lovenheim, 2013). Nutrient specific taxes promote healthier purchasing behaviors among consumers. Therefore, taxes on nutrients would promote healthier nutritional choices and broaden the tax base that is shifting from product taxation to nutrient taxation would increase the nutritional gains without changing the utility among these school going children (Harding & Lovenheim, 2013).
Therefore, for policy makers intending to promote good nutrition and health, price policies (taxes/subsidies) would be an effective approach to promote healthier purchasing in schools. As indicated above, product specifi...