ARS on Twitter
RSS
NY the Nanny State
Posted by Heather on June 22nd, 2006
Why can’t elected officials allow people to make their own choices? This latest, from NYC, is an example of how a Nanny State would look like: Limiting fast food restaurants to keep people from getting/staying obese. It’s not going to help. People make their own choices and live their lives the way they want. Some chose to take better care of themselves than others. This is not a solution.
NEW YORK (AP) – In a town where you can get a slice of pizza or a hot dog on nearly every block, one city councilman wants to limit the number of fast food restaurants as a way to fight obesity.
Councilman Joel Rivera, health committee chairman, said at a hearing Wednesday he was exploring the idea of using zoning laws to prevent fast food joints from taking over city streets. More than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight or obese.
“You’re not going to totally eliminate fast food restaurants, but you could limit the amount,” Rivera said after the hearing.
He said there is a high concentration of fast food eateries in low-income communities, and suggested that might to contribute to obesity rates, which also tend to be greater in those areas.
Rivera said he plans to hold hearings on the matter – particularly to explore whether New York City zoning laws could be tweaked so specifically.
Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, said it’s unlikely any zoning resolution could dictate that level of detail. The zoning code for eating and drinking establishments does not distinguish types of food.
“And in a city like New York, where everybody is on the run, it’s very hard to single out what is and isn’t fast food,” Moss added.
Let’s hope this doesn’t go through. The people of NYC deserve better.
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:45 am
A difficult issue. If someone becomes fat through lazyness or bad diet, that is their own fault – government is not obliged to keep them from their obesity. But, if there are so many overweight people it becomes an issue of public health… then there is grounds for government intervention.
That said, reducing the number of fast-food restraunts isn’t going to help – people will just have to walk (or, being fatties, more likely drive) a little further to get their helping of lard. The code would have to be very heavily revised in order to distinguish somehow between healthy and unhealthy food… very difficult to do.
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:05 am
Once again SR you are wrong.
The government has NO PLACE in intervening with people who are- overweight. It’s not like this is a communicable disease. It isn’t something that spreads from person to person. The government already has a dept. that recommends food intake- calories based upon height and all that; the government already has a dept that recommends diet and exercises; it is up to each person to take care of themselves.
Don’t use insurance as an excuse either; many insurance companies now tag an extra amt. of momey people must pay if they are fat, if they smoke…