Posted on 06/24/2005 10:09:27 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
Unbridled obesity panic could soon put the Good Humor Man on ice in San Diego. A group of food scolds, commissioned by the city's Board of Supervisors, has drafted "strategies" for combating childhood obesity which, among many outlandish ideas, include "ordinances restricting mobile junk food vendors from areas frequented by children and youth." Such laws would "expressly apply to ice cream vendors."
It's not just the neighborhood ice cream guy who should be worried. On tap are truly galling calls for zoning restrictions on restaurants, "fat taxes," advertising bans, shutting down drive-thrus, and even absurd odor controls to make food less enticing.
Obesity hysteria manifested itself in the draft's consensus recommendation to "Make prevention and treatment of Childhood Obesity and other related diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, our number one priority in the County, Health and Human Service Agency, and private/public collaboration with dedicated leadership, staffing and resources." [emphasis added] That priority comes at the expense of a consumer's ability to eat, as another consensus point would "Enact strict City and County zoning laws addressing the number of, construction of and conversion of fast food outlets and drive throughs, especially those around schools."
Ideas emanating from "experts" include "ordinances to limit access to fast food outlets and drive throughs during high school and junior high hours." This might mean you literally could not go to a local drive-thru for lunch if there's a school nearby. The "experts" also recommended classifying obesity as a "disease" and suggested that food makers control portion sizes to conform to government standards.
The draft report includes some far-out proposals from members of the community. Perhaps the most troubling idea would "change fast food's image to one of danger." Another strategy, apparently designed to prevent people from even thinking about food, would create odor-control ordinances to punish restaurants if the smell of their goods escaped their building. Then there was the idea -- going even further than Texas Agriculture Commissioner and self-titled "Food Czarina" Susan Combs' prohibition of students sharing gummy bears at school -- to ban "unhealthy" foods from even being brought to school. While some schools are concerned about checking for weapons, apparently San Diego wants to search kids' backpacks for Ho-Hos. Other ideas from the community include:
Asinine. There have been ice-cream trucks for a lot longer than there has been epidemic obesity.
We need to start passing laws against social engineers.
Just remove the brakes from the truck, and when the ice cream truck doesn't stop, the kids would have to jog alongside it to get their ice cream....this would help the obesity problem a lot.
Does anyone know the name on the song Mr. Softee plays?
They should force children to play video games and watch T.V. while running in place. Yea! that's the ticket.
LOL!!!
"I scream! You scream! We all scream for broccoli" Hhhmmm just doesn't seem to flow.....
It's not the hamburger patty that's killing people, it's the buns!
Bad buns! Ban bad buns!
Why is this such a big deal? Don't we almost always have to go RUNNING (sometimes riding bikes hard) after the ice-cream man anyway?
That is diabolical!(1. Of, concerning, or characteristic of the devil; satanic. 2. Appropriate to a devil, especially in degree of wickedness or cruelty.)
How about just banning mobile ice cream trucks for fat people? Like the height rulers at amusement parks, we could have scales which could sit on the street. The customer would step on the scale and if their weight is below the "obese" level, then the glass would slide open and they could order ice cream. If they are too damn fat, they would have to move along.
"freedom on the march"
everywhere except in the U.S.
outlaw ice cream trucks for a cone or a popsicle.
then just buy gallons of the delicious stuff for your freezer.
Do these people EVER think before they open their mouths? (For ice cream too I bet?)
I'd like to take a gander at all of the people involved in this silly nonsense. Are any overweight? Obese? Do they eat ice cream? Do they eat it behind closed doors? Are they closet ice cream eaters.
GET A LIFE YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not YOU Constitutionalist Conservative...THEM. They need to GET A LIFE and stay the hell out of everyone's business. They are just a bunch of nosey bodies.
Counter Protest Idea: Organize the kiddoes to push for a ban on beer at the ball park.
Let's not let facts get in the way of a good theory, OK?
If they merely outlawed food all together, obesity would cease to be a problem.
Americans in general are disgustingly obese.
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