Navajo Nation reauthorizes 2% sales tax on junk food

PHOENIX — A resolution that has aimed to help prevent diabetes in the Navajo Nation since being passed in 2014 has been reauthorized.

The Healthy Dine Nation Act of 2014, approved for continuation by the Navajo Nation Council on Dec. 23, implemented a 2% sales tax on unhealthy food and beverages.

One in three members of the Navajo Nation is diabetic or pre-diabetic, according to Partners in Health.

Eighty percent of revenue from the tax goes into community-based programs that promote healthy living including farming and vegetable gardens, greenhouses, farmers markets, food preparation classes, playgrounds, and sports and exercise equipment and spaces.

The rest is set aside for the permanent fund (12%), land acquisition fund (2%), veterans trust fund (4%) and tax administration suspense fund (2%), according to the Navajo Epidemiology Center.

A study by the Preventing Chronic Disease health journal that reviewed the act’s impact from 2015-2019 found that it generated about $7.5 million, about $13,000 per rural community.

The act also removed a tax on certain foods and vegetables, according to the NEC.

The reauthorization of the Healthy Dine Nation Act was approved by the 24th Navajo Nation Council by a 21-0 vote.

“This was a community-driven initiative several years ago, and now we are seeing the positive results,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement.

“In the last several years, we have more and more of our Navajo people taking on the challenge of creating a healthier lifestyle by practicing the teaching of our elders known as T’áá hwó’ajít’éego, or self-reliance and self-determination.”

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