Posted on 04/27/2010 3:39:38 PM PDT by freespirited
By a 3-2 vote, Santa Clara County supervisors today approved the nation's first childhood obesity ordinance targeting toy giveaways with fast-food meals.
The ordinance would prohibit restaurants from giving away toys with kids' meals that are high in fat, sugar and calories.
The ban's reach will be very limited. It will only affect restaurants in the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County such as San Martin.
Supervisors Ken Yeager, Liz Kniss and Dave Cortese voted for the ordinance. Supervisors Don Gage and George Shirakawa opposed it.
The ordinance will return to the board May 11 for a final vote. It will take effect 90 days after that, but during that time restaurants will have the chance to offer alternatives to the ordinance. If the board does not accept any of the alternatives, the law will begin at the end of the 90 days.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Nanny state ping
I'm so disgusted with these types and the IDIOT voter neighbors of mine who return them to office year after year I can barely stand it.
What are we coming to when the nanny staters criminalize Happy Meal toys? Don’t they have anything better to do when the state is falling apart?
Screeeaaaaaammmmmm.
Toys make kids fat???
Nanny State is dumb, Momma.
An appropriate response for Mcdonalds would be to close all restaurants in those areas, laying off all those employees and denying the city tax revenues.
Do they honestly think parents won’t buy the kids a meal because the kids won’t be getting a toy? If the parents are going to the restaurant, they are getting food for themselves and their kids, toy or no toy. This is meddling where it shouldn’t be. I hope this isn’t adopted outside of this county.
I think this is pathetic. When my kids were little we would get McDonalds occasionally and if they got a toy that was something they liked a little unepected fun. I wish the government would just go away especially the local goverments they really do mess things up IMO.
Easy way around this—drop the price of the meal by a penny and charge a penny for the toy....
Well never thought about that and I am thinking the Board of Supervisors hadn’t either otherwise I could see the penny going into the county coffers.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a tiny Post Office, a couple of Churches, a junkyard and an old time grocery store!
I can’t even think of a restaurant there, though, the gas station serves some decent beef jerky.
Is there any limit to what city councils can and can’t allow? Apparently not.
What is the use of a constitution if any body of small minded people elected by 50% plus one have no limit to their power?
Actually, when my kids were little, the toy was very important.
Once I learned that they’d get no toy on San Martin, I’d have made sure to get our very occasional Happy Meal in a city that provided them.
I am sorry for the McDonalds, etc., in these unincorporated areas.
They will lose business, no question.
“Easy way around this—drop the price of the meal by a penny and charge a penny for the toy....”
EXCELLENT idea. I hope they do it.
That is what is so hilarious about this. There are no restaurants in San Martin nor are there any in the other unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
This law has zero effect on anyone or anything. It might be a stepping stone down the road and they could extend coverage of an existing law to the entire county.
But, you have to drive 10+ minutes north to Morgan Hill before you can eat at a fast food restaurant and 10+ minutes south to Gilroy to eat at a restaurant.
Too funny and it’s a B.S. law affecting no one and effecting zero change.
And in other news, Santa Clara is COMPLETELY BANKRUPT.
Good to know they have their priorities straight. :)
The board of supervisors should pass a law that no one
can sit on the board of supervisors that weighs more
than medically accepted weight standards..to set an
example for the children.
That would be the correct thing to do. I would not limit it to McDonalds but include all other fast food restaurants.
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