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“It's not as simple as something like sugar”: values and conflict in the UK meat tax debate

International Journal of Health Governance, ISSN: 2059-4631, Vol: 26, Issue: 3, Page: 307-322
2021
  • 14
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 60
    Captures
  • 1
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    14
  • Captures
    60
  • Mentions
    1
    • News Mentions
      1
      • 1

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Should we tax meat to improve planetary health? A case study of values in the UK debate

Philippa Simmonds The scale of global meat consumption is a challenge that perfectly demonstrates synergies between human health and environmental systems. According to a succession

Article Description

Purpose: This paper qualitatively explores arguments in the UK meat tax debate, including how they align with values from specific political ideologies and perspectives on sustainable food security. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a scoping media analysis of articles published over 1 year in six leading UK newspapers, followed by semi-structured interviews with ten key stakeholders in late 2019. The authors identified categories of arguments, distilled the core conflicts and analysed how arguments reflected different ideas about human nature, the role of the state and solutions to food system challenges. Findings: Arguments were categorised into five major topics: climate change and environment; human health; effects on animals; fairness; and acceptability of government intervention. Pro-meat tax arguments often aligned with modern liberal ideology, and sometimes echoed demand restraint or food system transformation perspectives on sustainable food security. Arguments against meat taxes were more likely to align with the efficiency perspective or classical liberal ideology. Originality/value: To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first interpretive analyses of this controversial suggested policy. Despite having similarities with other debates around taxation – particularly taxes on sugar sweetened beverages – the meat tax debate contains unique complexities due to the prominence of environmental arguments, and differing values pertaining to animal welfare and rights. This study highlights the need for policy research exploring values, in addition to quantitative evidence.

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