San Francisco is the latest city to fall under the Rasputin like spell of the food police. In a recent motion the San Francisco board of supervisors wants to pass a bylaw that would ban the sale of toys in happy meals. Effectively targeting McDonald’s and many other fast food restaurants. The unintended consequence of targeting McDonald’s though would mean that many small restaurants would be squeezed even more and perhaps go out of business.
As well this gives rise to the culture of Protectionista’s who rather cut off their nose to spite their face than see the big picture of the interconnectedness between the economy and public policy. This move also seems eerily similar to Toronto city Council passing a motion of declaring themselves a nuclear free zone. You know “nannys ” are on the scene when you have protectorate politicians in charge of our political discourse.
Supervisor Mar introduces Healthy Meal Incentive legislation, which sets nutritional standards for restaurant food that is accompanied by toys or other youth focused incentive items. This legislation is aimed at promoting healthy eating habits and to address issues related to childhood obesity. Fast food restaurants target children and youth by offering toys and other incentive items. The Healthy Meal Incentive legislation would encourage restaurants to provide healthier meal options. To provide an incentive item, meals must contain fruits and vegetables, not exceed 600 calories or 200 calories for a single food item and must not have beverages that have excessive fat or sugar.
