The situation is precarious. The crises are rolling in on us. The climate crisis, covid, wild electricity prices and war. Then a new broadside enters the family economy: Hinside’s rise in food prices. From October last year to October this year, food prices rose by 13.1 per cent, which eats around NOK 1,500 out of the household budget per month for a Norwegian family. This means that hundreds of thousands of Norwegians every day do not have a real choice to buy healthy food for their family. We already know how that story will end in a few years, and it won’t be a happy ending. Unhealthy diet and obesity are the most direct route to cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer and early death, while we destroy the planet along the way. Norway reigns supreme in obesity. In Western Europe, only the British, Irish and Spanish are more generous around the waist than we are, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). It should be obvious that goods that are harmful to health and the environment must become more expensive, while fruit, vegetables, pulses, coarse grain products, seafood and everything else you know is good for you must become cheaper. Now it goes the opposite way. It’s like watching an accident unfold in slow motion, waiting for some adults to finally come to help. The adult’s name is Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, finance minister and party leader in the Center Party. In 2008, he was head of the party’s program committee and proposed cutting the VAT on fruit and vegetables: “This will have a major health effect and can promote healthy eating habits”, said Vedum, then parliamentary representative, to Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå (ANB). Amen, Trygve. And that’s not enough: “Now we want to use the tax system so that fruit and vegetables become cheaper, while it becomes more expensive to buy chocolate and other sweets. This will provide improvements in terms of health, which in turn will make the measure economically profitable,” said the Sp spokesperson. He was also concerned about poor diet among the Norwegian population: “More and more people are affected by diabetes. It both results in a poor quality of life for the individual and costs society money. Therefore, we must especially introduce schemes that help today’s young people to adopt a healthier diet. If we remove the VAT on fruit and vegetables, we will be able to have a situation where all parties win,” concluded Vedum. Amen again, Trygve. Now I fear that the 2022 version of the fruit and vegetable enthusiast will say something about a tight state budget being about making difficult choices. However, I admire young Vedum and his wishes for a VAT exemption on fruit and vegetables, and I am reminded of his conclusion at the time that it will not only have a great health effect – it will also be socially profitable. We know that we need a more sustainable and holistic food policy for the sake of both our health and the planet, and this can be an important step on the way. This year I believe in Santa Claus, and hope he gives us what we want: Zero VAT on fruit and vegetables.
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Cut out, Trygve – Statement
