Originally Posted by Red X

Now I don't believe the government should HAVE to step in and dictate what people should and should not eat. But there are certain things happening in our country that further obesity and heart disease and would benefit from some observation. For example, poor America statistically consists of parents with many kids (due to tax breaks, boredom, who the fuck knows?). With that many kids it is difficult to provide food, let alone healthy food. The price of 2, 2 liter bottles of soda is at least half the price of a gallon of milk. The snack aisle is calorie for calorie cheaper (much cheaper) than the fruit and vegetable aisle. And buying a family value meal at McD's is dollar for dollar cheaper than cooking a meal. So what happens? The people who cannot afford healthy food buy shitty food for themselves and their kids. The kids learn the bad habits and perpetuate the same cycle. Additionally, these same people gain weight, need health care, and live shorter lives because they cannot afford good food. Sure, we can educate the shit out of people but most are too lazy to take the time to cook a good meal especially for a lot of people. I'm not arguing that cheap and healthy alternatives don't exist, but most people are too lazy to care when there is such a big price difference between healthy and unhealthy. Although I still think the government should not control foods, it is difficult when health care costs are correlated to trans fats and the tax payer fronts the cost. I think that increasing the costs of healthier foods will eventually lead to either the invention of or the lowering in price of healthy foods that everyone can afford.



Hopefully this will encourage the healthy foods to lower in price. People have to still afford FOOD right?


I think that it does when you talk about the taxes you pay and the welfare it goes to. Consider the health care that you as a healthy individual do not use but pay for others.

But I will agree that it is a slippery slope when it comes to banning or outlawing foods. I think that trans-fats is a particular food that has inherent problems (see above), but MSG, caffeine, salt, etc. are foods that are "unhealthy" but no one economic sector is prone to buying, like trans fats.

Originally Posted by Nightshade

How do poor people have less of a choice exactly?

You realize it costs more money to go out and eat fast food then it does to go to the store and get a weeks supply of decent food to cook at home. That argument is the biggest pile of bullshit ever for someone to use.

Originally Posted by Red X

Or go to the store and buy unhealthy cheap foods to cook.

Originally Posted by Nightshade

That is a matter of educating people on how to return to proper cooking and food prep procedures. We have become a packaged society, but if you teach a person how to prepare proper meals the amount of money saved is exponential compared to packed dinners.

Originally Posted by b00gers

Has the argument of how the choice of personally putting trans fat into our bodies turns into a wider public concern in regards to health care come up?

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Yes it has but realistically we are all responsible for our own bills and if some lazy ass doesn't pay his med bills because he has a heart attack from morbid obesity and clogged arteries then take what he has and tell him tough shit not our issue anymore.

Seriously if you get hardline with people they will adapt to overcome the problem on their own, the more we coddle people the worse a problem will become.

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Yes it has but realistically we are all responsible for our own bills and if some lazy ass doesn't pay his med bills because he has a heart attack from morbid obesity and clogged arteries then take what he has and tell him tough shit not our issue anymore.

Seriously if you get hardline with people they will adapt to overcome the problem on their own, the more we coddle people the worse a problem will become.