Food Bans

Do You Need Food Bans To Save You From Yourself?

I was traveling a few weeks ago and stopped in one of those gas station - quick stop places for a quick cold beverage.  I'm not much of a sugary-drink fan so I go for the unsweetened ice tea.  Well, I was going to purchase it until I realized the smallest soft drink I could buy was 32oz.  I didn't buy it.  I didn't need 32oz of anything.  That's how I deal with over-sized soft drinks.  I don't need my legislature to tell me 32oz of something is too much; I don't need to make sure laws are enacted to stop YOU from enjoying your 32oz of whatever.   I know what's good for me and I made a choice. Further, if enough of us made that choice, I bet you'd find a 12oz soft drink choice available, eventually.

If only our government could find less obtrusive ways to encourage people towards healthier food and drink choices.  And they could you know.  How about public service ads telling us how there are about 500 calories in that 32oz drink.  And, they could tells us that in order to burn that off, I'd have to jog at least an hour (this varies depending on your size and workout intensity). And they could tell us how much weight we can expect to pile on over the next year if we have more than one of these hefty drinks in a day.

Yes, I imagine with all the good marketing people we have in this country, someone could come up with a marketing plan to inform and entice people towards a healthier life style.  Instead, every few months, we see a new law or proposed law pop up designed to make choices for us.  It's hard for me to understand why some politician, who has probably never sat through a class on nutrition in his life thinks he needs to make laws to attempt to control what I eat or drink.

I really do wonder where all this legislation will lead.  Will grocery stores and restaurants be restricted to selling only 4 ounce portions of beef and pork?  Will they outlaw everything but skinless, boneless poultry?  Full-fat dairy products can't fall far behind on the nutritional chopping block.  

So, that is my rant on the topic.  I hope you'll take our poll, and add your 2 cents worth to the topic.

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