Open AccessCalorie Offsets: Environmental Policy for the Food Environment
Author(s) -
Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed,
Sandro Galea
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2015.302678
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , externality , environmental health , public health , business , natural resource economics , public economics , food policy , economics , medicine , food security , agriculture , geography , ecology , nursing , archaeology , biology , microeconomics
Although obesity continues to challenge the public's health, effective policy solutions are wanting. Borrowing from environmental protection efforts, we explored the potential for a "calorie offset" regulatory mechanism, which is similar to the carbon emission offsets used to curb greenhouse gas emissions, to mitigate the harmful health externalities of unhealthy food production. This approach might have a number of advantages over traditional policy tools, and warrants attention from health policymakers and industry alike.