FAT BAN
NEW YORK (AP) -- New York on Tuesday became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants, leading the charge to limit consumption of an ingredient linked to heart disease and used in everything from french fries to pizza dough to pancake mix.
When I first learned of this new ban proposal, I didn't feel anger or joy, only confusion. Great- New Yorkers, famous for their restaurant food penchant as well as for their neurosis, will be able to feel a little bit healthier and a little more in control of what goes into their bodies when they eat out.
But banning transfats, to me, is a drop in the bucket. Sure, in the quest for improving the state of America's health, you have to start somewhere. But transfats aren't the issue but rather, a biproduct of a larger socioeconomic consumption dynamic that needs to be fixed.
This ban seems to be directed towards improving the healthfulness of fast food- McDonald's, KFC, etc. But for New Yorkers that make at least a decent living and eat at McDonald's once a year when on a road trip, or even once a month, the effects of the transfat ban are rendered obselete.
It is the New Yorkers at lower socio-economic levels who are eating from these cheap, low-quality food establishments on a regular basis. Take out the transfats from their fast food and they are still consuming- daily!- high fat meals that are poor in nutrition. But the food tastes good and it is really affordable, so they keep going back. It is a viscious cycle.
To me, that what really needs to change is eating behaviors. And changing behaviors comes from education. We (the people) need to educate ourselves on what is good and what is bad for us. We need to take some responsibility for managing our own personal health and also make strides to help those without the means to manage their own health better. No amount of legislation is going to save us- nor is any company- if we don't want to save ourselves.
When I first learned of this new ban proposal, I didn't feel anger or joy, only confusion. Great- New Yorkers, famous for their restaurant food penchant as well as for their neurosis, will be able to feel a little bit healthier and a little more in control of what goes into their bodies when they eat out.
But banning transfats, to me, is a drop in the bucket. Sure, in the quest for improving the state of America's health, you have to start somewhere. But transfats aren't the issue but rather, a biproduct of a larger socioeconomic consumption dynamic that needs to be fixed.
This ban seems to be directed towards improving the healthfulness of fast food- McDonald's, KFC, etc. But for New Yorkers that make at least a decent living and eat at McDonald's once a year when on a road trip, or even once a month, the effects of the transfat ban are rendered obselete.
It is the New Yorkers at lower socio-economic levels who are eating from these cheap, low-quality food establishments on a regular basis. Take out the transfats from their fast food and they are still consuming- daily!- high fat meals that are poor in nutrition. But the food tastes good and it is really affordable, so they keep going back. It is a viscious cycle.
To me, that what really needs to change is eating behaviors. And changing behaviors comes from education. We (the people) need to educate ourselves on what is good and what is bad for us. We need to take some responsibility for managing our own personal health and also make strides to help those without the means to manage their own health better. No amount of legislation is going to save us- nor is any company- if we don't want to save ourselves.
posted by ap at 2:15 PM
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