Outreach
Reports, Public engagement, and opinion pieces
Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax
I am part of a team of researchers at UW, Public Health Seattle/King County, and Seattle Children’s Hospital who have evaluated the impacts of Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT), introduced in 2018. I have linked to the reports to which I have contributed below. My contribution has mainly been in evaluating the impact of the tax on beverage prices and attitudes related to the tax. This work is primarily funded by the City of Seattle.
Baseline Report
Six-Month Store Beverage Prices Report
Healthy Food Availability & Food Bank Network Report
12 Month Store Audits & Child Cohort
Norms and Attitudes Toward the Tax 24 Months After Implementation
Washington Farm Economy
Related to my work on the SBT, I produced and independent report with Lina Pinero Walkinshaw on the effect of Seattle’s spending of SBT revenues on food access programs. Specifically, we looked at the ways in which this spending benefitted the Washington farm economy.
Public Engagement
Melissa Knox. New Evidence on Sweetened Beverage Taxes Points the Way for Future Policy and Research,Invited Editorial for American Journal of Public Health, volume 111, pages 1907–1909, 2021.
Can a tax on stock trades pay off the nations student debt? 22 July 2019. The Conversation. Reposted at: Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, SF Gate, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Motley Fool, and others.