First soda, now POPCORN: New York officials target nations favourite snack in obesity crackdown.

UK Daily Mail ^ | 6/13/12 | Daily Mail Reporter

[DallasBiff]

Health experts in New York want to widen the proposed ban on super-sized soda to include juices, milk shakes and even popcorn, it emerged today.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to outlaw sugary drinks over 16 ounces (1 pint) in the city's restaurants, delis, food trucks, movie theatres and sporting arenas.

Now officials charged with deciding on whether it should come into force have suggested they would be in favour of incorporating other unhealthy snacks.

[Raycpa]

Result will be to increase price of admission to movies for everyone thereby making it harder for poor to get in.

[Hodar]

Their selective targets (Soft Drinks, Popcorn and possibly Milk products) seem confusing. If they want to do away with obesity, wouldn’t the logical thing to do be to limit what the EBT card can buy? No more potato chips, soft drinks, ice cream and deserts ... make the welfare recipients purchase fruits, veggies, uncooked meats and fix healthy meals at home. I mean, it’s not like they don’t have any freakin’ time .....

I work full time, my wife works full time; and we manage to fix healthy meals - it’s not rocket science. Then again, we aren’t sitting at home, watching TV, neglecting our kids, we don’t have prison records and we actually PAY taxes (significant taxes, I might add). Somehow, we find the time to shop for groceries, prepare meals and still have time to maintain our home, mow the yard and somehow still manage to have time to relax and take vacations.

[servo1969]

Well someone needs to do something, right? I mean I’ve gone to the movies and bought popcorn at least 2-3 times a week for my entire life. Some weeks I’ve gone every day. /s

Honestly. The majority of people go to the movies once or twice a year - if that. What difference does one or two bags of popcorn make in the greater scheme of things? Sigh. Of course, that’s beside the point to these people, isn’t it? It’s a crime that people are able to eat it at all as far as they’re concerned. How the hell did we ever survive as a race without these people to make choices for us?

Next they’ll regulate the size of ice cream cones and outlaw cotton candy. You wait and see.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Boy, that’s going to be hard to do. I know from personal experience. Maybe there should be Cheez-Its rationing.

[Personal Responsibility]

I’m with you. We speak the same language and I see where you’re having trouble. The problem you’re experiencing is that you’re not thinking like a liberal. Or more specifically, you are interpreting liberal actions by applying logic. Take it from me - stop doing that. It will only make your head hurt.

The liberals can’t go after EBT card users because that’s their voting base. Annoying that group is akin to committing political suicide. At the same time, they are still liberals. They have to be seen as “doing something” about the “problem”. It doesn’t matter what the problem is or if their “solution” actually fixes the problem. All that matters is that they are “doing something”

So in that vein, they bestow upon themselves the power to ban large sodas. Surely no one could be against that, right? After all, who needs 64 oz. of soda?

But - the cries come in - what about other things that are “bad” for you. Things like popcorn, candy, ice cream and others. If, the liberals think, we have the power to ban large sodas why shouldn’t we also ban these huge tubs of popcorn, 5 scoop sundaes, and jumbo bags of candy? After all, those are just as bad as soda, aren’t they?

This is the liberal mindset. And they miss the single important point in the whole debate: What about free will? What about - shameless plug here - Personal responsibility? Where do the liberals get off thinking they have power to ban ANYTHING?

The reasons their arguments make no sense is because they are totalitarian in nature and we are not totalitarian. The reason you had a problem understanding it is that you tried to apply logic to people who are acting irrationally.

[JoeProBono]

[Democrats hate too much]

hahaha, funny thing is that popcorn is actually whole grain. It's actually a South Beach Phase 2 snack.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/447615-popcorn-the-south-beach-diet/

[BlatherNaut]

Here's an idea Bloomberg. Ban cheap, toxic, Chinese goods!!

New Yorkers had better watch out. Nanny Bloomberg is following in the footsteps of his Chicom idols, so NYers may find themselves eating fake plastic rice instead of popcorn.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/108582/20110203/china-makes-fake-rice-from-plastic-report.htm

[a fool in paradise]

Watching this year's Obama campaign and the Hollywood Red Douchebags won't be the same without popcorn.

[gleeaikin]

I have often thought the food stamp recipients should be offered the option of getting the regular food stamps which can only be used for food, or stamps which can only be used for basically uncooked/unprocessed food (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, and vegetables, etc.) plus a small percentage of the total allowance for necessities like toothpaste, soap, laundry products, toilet paper and vitamins.

[Labyrinthos]

First and foremost, I am against the Bloomberg food Nazis and their desire to mico-manage our lives. People have the right to make their own stupid choices and suffer the consequences as long as their stupid decisions don't have a material effect upon other people. With that said, way too many Americans are fat, lazy, and stupid, and quick to blame their fatness on their genes and slow metabolism. Follow a fat person around for a few hours and the reason they are fat should become obvious — and it has nothing to do with genetics unless there is a yet to be discovered gene than causes fat people to eat a double whopper with bacon and cheese for lunch every day or inhale a a large bag of chips and a biggie soda as they waddle through the grocery store shopping for crap food.

Government's role should not be coercive and punitive, but rather, instructive. Rather than teaching fifth graders how to put a condom on a banana and the virtues of gay sex, the government run school system should be teaching kids about nutrition, including how to read a food label, the importance of serving size, and the health implications of obesity. Schools should also resurrect the home economics curriculum, which seems to have disappeared over the last few years thanks to the leftist complaints that “home ec” is sexist. Both girls and boys should be required to take the class and the emphasis should be on healthy food choices and basic cooking skills. Indeed, I know fat people who eat at McWendyKing every evening because they don't know how to cook a simple meal.

[gleeaikin]

I have often thought the food stamp recipients should be offered the option of getting the regular food stamps which can only be used for food, or stamps which can only be used for basically uncooked/unprocessed food (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, and vegetables, etc.) plus a small percentage of the total allowance for necessities like toothpaste, soap, laundry products, toilet paper and vitamins.

[Tammy8]

the government run school system should be teaching kids about nutrition, including how to read a food label, the importance of serving size, and the health implications of obesity.

Have you seen the typical school breakfast or lunch? Loaded with starch/carbs/fats. Hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, fries, mac & cheese...

I don't think the government should be involved at all, every problem they try to fix ends up worse.

[DallasBiff]

First and foremost, I am against the Bloomberg food Nazis and their desire to mico-manage our lives. People have the right to make their own stupid choices and suffer the consequences as long as their stupid decisions don't have a material effect upon other people. With that said, way too many Americans are fat, lazy, and stupid, and quick to blame their fatness on their genes and slow metabolism. Follow a fat person around for a few hours and the reason they are fat should become obvious — and it has nothing to do with genetics unless there is a yet to be discovered gene than causes fat people to eat a double whopper with bacon and cheese for lunch every day or inhale a a large bag of chips and a biggie soda as they waddle through the grocery store shopping for crap food.

Government's role should not be coercive and punitive, but rather, instructive

Welcome Mayor Bloomberg(or his spokesperson). I guess I should click my heels and say "heil".

[Gabz]

So in that vein, they bestow upon themselves the power to ban large sodas. Surely no one could be against that, right? After all, who needs 64 oz. of soda?

It started long before sodas- it started with smoking and non smoking sections and then out right bans. They convinced the populace that was perfectly fine and now they can't be stopped .

If you think this is just a liberal thing you need to rethink that. During the height of the smoking ban articles there were plenty of so called conservative FReepers that were all in favor of them, no matter how many times they were warned it would lead to stuff like this. They are probably being blind sided and up in arms about this nonsense - but with their support of the smoking bans on private property they opened the door for this to happen.

[Labyrinthos]

I agree that government has a long history of making problems worse, but who can we turn to to teach our children about nutrition, healthy food choices, and healthy cooking? Most fat kid that I see are attached to fat parents. We can't expect the parents to educate their kids when they themselves can't understand a food label and their idea of home cooking is fast food take-out.

[EyeGuy]

“Earlier at the meeting, it was revealed that the city’s obesity crisis causes 5,800 deaths a year and costs taxpayers $4billion annually.”

###

Which brings up the real problem that gives these Commies their excuse to meddle in our lives:

The “obese” should be completely fiscally responsible for their own dietary and lifestyle choices, not the “taxpayers”.

In other words, because we’re collectivists, we are going to inflict more collectivist policies on you.

[Hodar]

Awesome reply!

[GraceG]

[ I have lived with two obese kids-young adult. It is easier to keep an alcoholic away from booze than to keep an obese person away from food. If you ban certain foods or try to monitor their use of food they simply find a work around.

Also, these very obese kids avoid overeating in front of anyone person and avoid being seen eating real high calorie foods.

They compensate by eating multiple meals with multiple people, eating very fast and spreading out their caloric intake over several foods. They are every bit as covert as an addict. Banning foods will not make one fat person lose wait. ]

YES! EXACTLY, I AGREE, and this is comming from a recovering food addict. You make soda illegal and there will be a fat people lined up in the back alleyways to get illicit soda pop from vinny and hernando.

[GraceG]

[ ...and where will it stop?
Ice cream shops
alcohol
heavy whipping cream
beef

Here’s an idea Bloomberg. Ban cheap, toxic, Chinese goods!!

This non-sense is the exact reason millions of folks don’t trust republicans not to mention democrats.

Bunch-a socialist pricks. I know how to live your life better than you. ]

If that moron ACTUALLY wanted to do something about all the “cheap junk food” and the Corn Syrup in Soda pop he would be using his position as Mayor of NYC to call for an end to ALL CORN subsidizing from the federal and NY state level.

But no, because that would be against the Dim-wit party line of only implementing policies that inctread fed gov control over the citizens.