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Jewish World Review July 20, 2005 / 13 Tammuz, 5765 The only court that matters is the food court By Froma Harrop
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Exhibit A is the Monster Thickburger. Weighing in at 1,420
calories, Hardee's Shih Tzu-sized burger has the food police on high alert.
Groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest contend that
products like the Thickburger are making Americans obese. And they are
looking for ways to sue the fast-food chains and cookie conglomerates that
make them.
As a dieting dame, I immediately see the flaw in this thinking.
It is this: I could eat a Monster Thickburger every day and lose weight —
if that were all I ever ate. Dieting dames (the old newspaperman Damon
Runyon thought up the name) know that one can sin in moderation. An eating
regimen based on low-fat protein and vegetation can have some trans fats at
the tippy top of the pyramid and still be healthy. In other words, a bag of
Cheez Doodles now and then won't kill anyone.
The dames fully appreciate that most of American youth does not
worry as they do about calories and balanced meals. Come noon, the
ninth-grader downs a Burger King Double Whopper (970 calories) the way the
ladies eat their tuna sandwich on whole wheat (under 300). Both will call it
lunch.
If the ninth-grader gets fat, is that society's problem, as the
Center for Science in the Public Interest would have it? Good question. We
all know that obesity is growing among young Americans. We know it causes
health problems.
The sticking point, however, is who to blame? A Dairy Queen
Blizzard is an inanimate object. It doesn't hit an American child over the
head and enter his body, "X-Files" style. Nor does DQ sell it as diet food.
The Dairy Queen website informs us that the Large Oreo Cookies Blizzard
contains 1,010 calories and 37 grams of fat. There are no secrets here.
Parents should oversee their children's food consumption. Their
responsibility does not end because Taco Bell is putting the food on the
plate. They should know where the kid is dining and what he's buying. If
their children won't obey orders to stay away from fatty menus, parents can
still exercise their power of the purse. Translation: No money for fast
food. And there is no law barring parents from serving healthy meals at
home.
Perhaps the dames are cranky from being hungry much of the time.
This is how they feel. But while they blame parents rather than Wendy's for
rising childhood obesity, they abhor the Big Food lobbyists who insist that
being fat isn't a health problem. The Center for Consumer Freedom is the
least lovable. The center maintains that the right to eat junk food is one
of our most cherished freedoms.
The Center for Consumer Freedom's campaign to undermine the
authority of health experts is obnoxious. Some Big Food companies, like
PepsiCo and Kraft Foods, don't want to be associated with it and have
refused to join up. Berman accuses these companies of "appeasement."
The companies may also feel that they don't need Berman's
protection. The talk shows are full of segments about Big Food's becoming
the "new tobacco" — that is, a target for lawsuits. The truth is, there
have been only a few lawsuits against fast-food joints, and they've gone
nowhere. Unless lawyers can prove that Mars Bars are addictive or that
McDonald's lied about the calories in its Steak & Egg Cheese Bagel (there
are 700), they don't have much of a case.
The only court that matters is the food court. And there,
consumers ultimately rule. For responsible parents and dieters everywhere,
the Monster Thickburger is only a problem when that's all there is. Give
people a choice, and then let them choose.
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© 2005 Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
