The Fight For The Right To Supersize

I'm reading this post this morning and I come across this paragraph: "If you look at how menus have changed, whether it be in fast food or family dining, you are seeing more and more healthy options," Cashion said. "Not because of legislative mandates or regulatory mandates, but because of consumer demand. Our industry has always been one to respond to the marketplace." Now, if you don't read the article, what you need to know is that is a statement from Mike Cashion, executive director the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association. He is commenting in response to proposed legislation in Mississippi that is intended to block the creation of any legislation requiring the posting of calorie content, restricting soft drink size, or excluding toys from kids' meals.

This kind of thing leaves me somewhat conflicted. On the one hand I really don't look forward to a society where the long regulatory hand of government extends to every nook and cranny of my personal life. On the other hand, people have done a pretty miserable job of resisting what can only be termed over indulgence in high fat low fit foods. Obesity is epedemic. Obesity in children is both epidemic and child abuse. And, face it, the fast food industry has not become an empire by peddling healthy choices and encouraging restraint.

Meaningful healthcare reform will require health education starting in pre-school and continuing throughout a child's K-12 education. It will require building a population that learns meaningful lifetime physical education. It will require acquiring a knowledge of food and nutrition that provides balance and diversity. Unfortunately, unless the industry really wants to embrace change, it will require vilification of the fast food industry as we know it.

And, too, for the people of Mississippi, where 1 in 3 residents are reported to be obese, it may just mean their legislative initiatives become nothing more than testament to the long and corrupt reach of an industry that really doesn't give a shit if our kids end up morbidly obese diabetic heart patients sucking on portable oxygen while hunched over a large fries and a 32oz Mountain Dew. Although, by that time, even the adult meals might contain a prize. Perhaps a tablet of Lipitor.