Policy Better Than A Soda Ban

In September, the New York City Board of Health approved the well-publicized ban on large sugery drinks like soda. The ban, championed by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, is an attempt to stem the tide of an "obesity epidemic". Many people, most notably New Yorker and funnyman Jon Stewart, have criticized this ban because it both infringes on people's liberties and will probably be ineffective in reducing any one's weight. Just remember, you can still order pizza, hamburgers, and fries within New York city limits.

I think Bloomberg's heart is in the right place. Aside from my personal dislike of calling obesity an epidemic (you know, comparing fat people to diseases like typhoid and cholera) and institutionalizing fat-shaming, I do think health is important and Americans have been neglecting it for decades. In my opinion, it is a major concern that people (thin and fat) suck down sodas all day while consuming oversized servings of processed food with nary a real veggie in sight. It means despite getting our allotment of calories, we are still malnourished. It is that malnourishment that leads to our bodies preforming at less optimal levels. Over the last year, I have done tons of internet (suspicious, I know) research on how micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) or the lack of them effect our bodies. No good comes from a deficiency - we become too tired to maintain physical activity and overeat in a subconscious attempt to fulfill our energy needs.

So, instead of banning large sodas to fix America's muy importante health issues, we should encourage increased consumption of real foods and decreased consumption of processed food.

My platform would look something like this:

1. Nutrition labels on prepared and packaged food would have the daily values for all recognized micronutrients. Consumers could compare products and understand what they are and aren't getting in their purchase. Do you know what molybdenum is? If it showed up on the nutrition label, even at zero percent, would it give you pause? Would you ask what is this and should I eat more of it?   

2. Restaurants and food producers would be offered tax incentives for making foods with only wholefood ingredients. 

3. AND rather than banning large or extra-large drinks - Restaurants, movie theaters, and minimarts, would be required to sell 6-8 oz cups of surgery goodness.  Far too many of these businesses have morphed their small or kiddie size cups into what was a decade-ago medium and larges. You try drinking only half of a "small" soda from Burger King.

Let's legislate to provide people with more options (even if slightly smaller ones), not less.