Yesterday Los Angeles passed legislation banning fast food restaurants from South Central LA. This is a grotesque display of government paternalism and a shock to those who believe in limited government. Never did I think the day would arrive when the government would ban the sale of food to adults, but here we are.
I'll let Will Saletan make my point:
And what about the argument that people in South-Central need the government to block unhealthy food options because they're "in a poor situation" to locate better choices? This is the argument normally made for restricting children's food options at school—that they're more dependent and vulnerable than the rest of us. How do you feel about treating poor people like children?How's this for a compromise: The city of LA can ban certain types of food from being sold in certain areas only if the city prepares three meals a day for each person who might be affected by the ban.
It's true that food options in low-income neighborhoods are, on average, worse than the options in wealthier neighborhoods. But restricting options in low-income neighborhoods is a disturbingly paternalistic way of solving the problem.
And the helplessness attributed to poor people is exaggerated. "You try to get a salad within 20 minutes of our location; it's virtually impossible," says the Community Coalition's executive director. Really? The coalition's headquarters is at 8101 S. Vermont Ave. A quick Google search shows, among other outlets, a Jack-in-the-Box six blocks away. They have salads. Not the world's greatest salads, but not as bad as a government that tells you whose salad you can eat.
If the government wants to be someone's mom then they ought to act like it.
3 Comments:
Seriously, thats messed up. I would be semi-comfortable with some sort of fast food regulation that says any restaurant in an area has to have like 10% of its menu meeting a certain health standard or even a ban on certain ingredients, such as trans fats.
But this overarching ban on any 'fast food' restaurant is outrageous. What about Wendy's? They've got delicious salads and those rockin' baked potatoes. Is Subway a fast food joint? Cuz those sandwiches are way healthy and delicious!
You see similar bans in super yuppy neighborhoods that want to make a statement about what is NOT good enough for them to eat. But to place that restriction on low income families because you think you know what's best for them is some paternalistic, MADD-pandering shit. And I hope the pelotes peddlers start selling french fries and hot dogs ASAP.
Limited government!
We'll never see the day.
The Onion weighs in:
http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/l_a_bans_fast_food
:)
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