Re:And your bad genetics cost ME... (Score 3, Interesting)

If you actually look at why the unhealthy foods are so cheap, you'll often find a government subsidy or regulation at some point in the production chain. Farm subsidies come immediately to mind. That 99 cent McDonald's hamburger can be so cheap because the corn the cows eat sells for too little (as a result of subsidized production). The same subsidies, coupled with restrictions on the imporation of sugar are the reasons that we have so much high fructose corn syrup in our food. Healthy foods would have a much easier time competing in the (admittedly imperfect, but efficient and decentralized) market if the government interfered less than it did. I'd even support taxes on 'unhealthy' foods if it meant an end to farm subisides and other assorted regulations on our food. Ideally we wouldn't need either, but I prefer a tax with a readily discernable effect on price as opposed to the subtle, far reaching, and poorly understood market distortions that we suffer under currently.