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Letter to Governor Deval Patrick

February 27, 2007

Governor Deval Patrick

State House

Office of the Governor

Room 360

Boston, MA 02133

Dear Governor Patrick:

The intention of this letter is to enroll you in a solution that will help to:

1. Promote health.

2. Generate the Billion Dollar plus Revenue the State of Massachusetts needs.

3. Reduce health care costs.

The solution is simple:

TAX ALL PROCESSED FOODS…no exceptions!

This idea is actually already in progress. It was considered as bill # HD2173 before The Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Now it is bill number 2841 and being referred to the Committee on Revenue with the following wording: This bill would remove processed foods from sales tax exemption. In the meantime, this idea needs your support!

Recently Al Gore said, “Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, whether you voted for me or not, I very much hope that you will sense that my goal is to share with you both my passion for the Earth and my deep sense of concern for its fate. It is impossible to feel one without the other when you know all the facts.”

Like Al Gore, my goal is to both share my passion for one peaceful, healthy world that lives in harmony with nature and my deep sense of concern for the degenerating quality of our food and our health. I think this bill may be one all of us can sink our teeth into, literally and figuratively. Supporting this potential bill would help you achieve your goals as well as fulfill my passion!

I’m David Snieckus, Macrobiotic Counselor and Chef for 30 years, and I’m writing because people everywhere are not only talking about Global Warming, but Spiraling Health Care Costs and the need for additional funds for various programs. According to The Boston Globe, February 23, 2007, you yourself are looking for a Billion dollars in additional revenue.

In another article in the January 4th, 2007 issue of the Boston Globe, entitled: Health Costs Hit Town in Wallet, Marc V. Waldman, the chairman of the West Suburban Health Group, and Wellesley’s treasure/collector, said the following about the rising health care costs: “It’s absolutely killing us.” “We’re well beyond the breaking point.” However, he also goes on to say, “Unless there is a miracle!” Taxing all processed foods may result in that miracle! Here’s how it could work.

As you already may know, there is a relationship between food and health. Based on experience and actual scientific studies (See The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD. and Thomas M. Campbell, II), a plant-based diet is the healthiest. The unhealthiest? Processed foods! OVER-consumption of processed foods is the main culprit of our spiraling health care costs today.

Taxing processed foods would:

· Discourage the consumption of processed foods

· Raise Awareness of the IMPORTANCE of organic plant-based Whole Food for Health

· Encourage the healthier consumption of organic plant-based whole foods

· Result in greater health

· Reduce the need for health care and thereby reduce health care costs

· Provide additional revenue for the State of Massachusetts

I propose that this additional revenue generated from a tax on ALL processed foods help to pay existing health care costs. Perhaps it could also subsidize the farmers in Massachusetts and the education needed to teach our citizens how to eat whole foods, anything that could be replanted, like grain, vegetables and beans, especially those grown in Massachusetts. We could potentially have free health care and possibly low cost organic food for EVERYONE! Think on that for a moment.

Here’s the math: According to NSpend, an Internet Food Statistic Provider, the average personal expenditure on processed food is $6,000 per year. There are approximately 6 million people in Massachusetts. Impose a 4% tax on processed food purchases: that’s $240 per person per year. $240 times the number of people in Massachusetts equals One Billion Four Hundred Forty Million Dollars. How much is health care in Massachusetts? Well according to NPR weekend report, April 8th 2006, it’s One Billion Three Hundred Million Dollars. Passage of a law that taxes all processed foods would pay those health care costs and then some.

I have a passion for optimizing health by eating in harmony with Nature. How about you? Help ensure the passage of this bill and make the law work for us!

For more information, call me at 617-964-2951.

Sincerely and Healthfully Yours,

DAVID SNIECKUS

99 Crescent Street

Newton, MA 02466