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When is this going to stop? Endless government regulation is not the solution to everything. Look, there's a huge health movement going on in the country right
by deelowe 14y ago
When is this going to stop? Endless government regulation is not the solution to everything. Look, there's a huge health movement going on in the country right now. Just like there was an anti-smoking movement starting up before the government ever got involved with that. The people who fund this crap aren't looking to do good, they just want more tax revenue (or more grant dollars from those who want more tax revenue). That's what they've always wanted.
Don't believe me? Restaurants are now voluntarily adding calorie numbers to menus, because the lower calorie stuff is higher margin and people buy it. Vitamin water, coke zero, pepsi one/0, izze, baked chips, etc... etc... etc.. take up much more room in the grocery stores than they used to. Trader joes and whole foods are massive businesses now and threatening the big boys like kroger. I'm not saying obesity isn't a problem, but I do think we'll see the trend start changing for the better soon.
There's no need for regulation. The public will shift on it's own. All we need is better education. Almost everyone I know(in my age group and younger) eat much more healthily than their parents do/did simply because they are better informed. Contrary to popular belief, people do make rational decisions when it comes to eating (excluding socioeconomic factors).
- __david__ 14y ago> Don't believe me? Restaurants are now voluntarily adding calorie numbers to menus, because the lower calorie stuff is higher margin and people buy it. Actually, if you are in California then it's more likely because of a 2009 law[1]: "Putting our heads in the gastronomic sand became a bit harder starting July 1, 2009, when a new law went into effect making California the first state to mandate that chain restaurants--those with 20 or more locations--provide a calorie count for everything on the menu." [1] http://www.examiner.com/article/calorie-count-california-restaurant-law-urges-restraint http://www.examiner.com/article/calorie-count-california-res...
- breckinloggins 14y agoI moved from Texas to California and I can confirm that, while there does seem to be a trend toward more and more restaurants voluntarily including this information, you don't really SEE it until you cross the border into California. This is an example of a business regulation that has had a directly positive impact on my daily food choices... I find that I automatically choose lower calorie foods just because the calorie numbers guilt me into doing so. In fact, this one thing led to a general softening of my hard-core libertarian "no regulations ever let the market decide" stance of the past.
- __david__ 14y agoYeah, I have to say I really appreciate this as well. It's especially eye opening to go into a movie theater and see the large popcorn labelled as 1500 calories (!!!).
- jbooth 14y agoAlmost everyone I know(in my age group and younger) eat much more healthily than their parents do/did simply because they are better informed. So basically, everyone you know is rich and either white or first-generation indian/chinese? The government subsidizes the production of corn syrup, to a huge extent, and that's why it's used in damn near everything, with serious costs to public health (reflected in your insurance premiums and tax bills).
- imgabe 14y ago> Almost everyone I know I'm sure you know a representative random sample of people your age, of course.