FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Facing a high prevalence of
diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with
community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional
foods, and running programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.
The
latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation,
is to use the tax system to push people to ditch junk food.
Navajo
President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to enact a 2
percent sales tax on tax on chips, cookies and sodas, and to eliminate
the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. This week, tribal lawmakers have a
chance to resurrect the proposals, and supporters are optimistic
they’ll be among the first in the country to succeed.
Elected
officials across the country have taken aim at sugary drinks with
proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes and warning labels, though their
efforts have yet to gain widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers
approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of
that government’s campaign to fight obesity.
Shelly said he
supports the intent of the proposals on the Navajo Nation but questioned
how the higher tax on snacks high in fat, sugar and salt would be
enacted and regulated. Supporters of the tax say it is another tool in
their fight for the health of the people.
"If we can encourage our
people to make healthier choices and work on the prevention side, we
increase the life span of our children, we improve their quality of
life," said professional golfer Notah Begay III, who is among
supporters.
American Indians and Alaska Natives as a whole have
the highest age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes among U.S. racial and
ethnic groups, according to the American Diabetes Association. They are
more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have the disease
that was the fourth leading cause of death in the Navajo area from 2003
to 2005, according to the Indian Health Service.
Native children ages 10 to 19 are nine times as likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the IHS
said.
The
proposed Navajo Nation tax wouldn’t add significantly to the price of
junk food, but buying food on the reservation presents obstacles that
don’t exist in most of urban America. The reservation is a vast 27,000
square miles with few grocery stores and a population with an
unemployment rate of around 50 percent. Thousands of people live without
electricity and have no way of storing perishable food items for too
long.
"They have a tendency to purchase what’s available, and it’s
not always the best food," said Leslie Wheelock, director of tribal
relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Wheelock said
the diabetes issue in tribal communities is one that has been overlooked
in the past or not taken as seriously as it could be. It has roots in
the federal government taking over American Indian lands and introducing
food that tribal members weren’t used to, she said.
To help
remedy that, the USDA runs a program that distributes nutritional food
to 276 tribes. Grants from the agency have gone toward gardening lessons
for children within the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York,
culturally relevant exercise programs for the Spirit Lake Tribe in North
Dakota and food demonstrations using fresh fruit and vegetables on the
Zuni reservations in New Mexico.
The Dine Community Advocacy
Alliance, which has been pushing for the Navajo Nation junk food tax,
estimates it will result in at least $1 million a year in revenue that
could go toward wellness centers, community parks, walking trails and
picnic grounds in tribal communities in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. It
would expire at the end of 2018.
Tribal lawmakers will vote this
week on overturning Shelly’s vetoes. Regardless of whether that
legislation passes, "we have to keep stepping up to the plate," alliance
member Gloria Begay said.
No other sales tax on the Navajo Nation
specifically targets the spending habits of consumers. Alcohol is sold
in a few places on the reservation but isn’t taxed. Retailers and
distributors pay a tobacco tax.
Opponents of the junk food tax
argue it would burden customers and drive revenue off the reservation.
Mike Gardner, executive director of the Arizona Beverage Association,
said the lack of specifics in the legislation as to what exactly will be
taxed could mean fruit juice and nutritional shakes would be lumped in
the same category as sodas.
"I don’t think they mean that, but
that’s what will happen," Gardner said. "It’s a little loose, a little
vague. It’s going to create problems for retailers and … it doesn’t
solve the problem."
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