Navajo Nation Approves Tax on Junk Food, Funds to Promote Healthy Food

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The Navajo Nation, faced with rising rates of obesity, has decided to take make some healthy changes.

On Jan. 30, 2014, the Navajo Nation Council voted in favor of the Healthy Diné Nation Act to increase the sales tax on junk food, by two percent and eliminate the five percent sales tax on healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, water, nuts and seeds.

What is considered junk? Sugary drinks and snack foods that are highly processed and low in nutritional quality including chips, candy, pastries and the like.

Revenue from the tax would be deposited into a special fund that will help develop projects such as wellness centers, community parks, basketball courts, running trails, community gardens and health education classes.

The bill was sent to Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly who decided to veto the legislation. A spokesperson for Shelly said the Navajo President supports the idea of a junk food tax to combat obesity, but that the proposed bill isn’t clear on how the tax on snacks high in fat, sugar and salt would be enforced and regulated. Read more here.

November 2014 UPDATE: The Navajo Nation Council again approved the Healthy Dine Nation Act. Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly has 10 days to consider approved legislation once the resolution is sent to his office. Read more here.

Update: On Friday, November 21, 2014, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly approved the proposed legislation taxing unhealthy junk foods. The $1 million-a-year that the additional tax is expected to generate will pay for projects including farmer’s markets, vegetable gardens and wellness and exercise equipment in the tribe’s 110 communities. It will remain in effect until 2020, but it can be extended by the Navajo Nation Council. Read more here. 

The country’s first-ever junk food tax goes into affect in April 2015. Read the latest news here.