Public Health in Oregon - Join The Conversation

Los Angeles Fast-Food Moratorium: What do you think?

By: NWHF Staff | Posted on: August 22nd, 2008 | 3 comments | Share:
Categories: Public Health

On July 29, 2008, The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance, authored by Councilwoman Jan Perry, which prevents new fast food establishments from opening in certain low-income sections of Los Angeles for one year.  According to Councilwoman Perry, this will allow time for City planners to study the effects of the over-proliferation of fast-food restaurants in these communities and develop permanent solutions.

But Joe Hicks, writing in the Los Angeles Times says this is an example of government intruding into the daily lives of citizens and causing more harm than good.

Hicks argues that “over-taxed and burdened by red tape, local businesses are the target of other states’ incentives and outreach programs,” and that “disappearing Hollywood productions are a prime example.”

As if local filming of big picture productions can be related to fast food chains.

Hicks says “rather than obsessing about people’s food choices, Perry and her colleagues should concentrate on relieving the city’s budget crunch, wiping out gang violence, increasing the size of the police force and dealing with the paralyzing traffic we face each day.”

This fear of the “nanny state” is similar to the view of David Reinhard of the Oregonian, who wrote in an August 3, 2008 column: “The nation’s obesity crisis? It’s not just an individual’s responsibility to take off the feedbag and eat healthier meals or get off the couch and onto an exercise bike. No, it becomes a restaurant’s legal responsibility to post the calories in items that patrons order (voluntarily) after entering the premises (voluntarily)…and here’s the next big nanny-state proposal that taps into the obesity crisis and global warming: closing down drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants.”

True? Is addressing obesity in a community, as Reinhard suggests, just a matter of an individual’s responsibility to “take off the feedbag and eat healthier meals?”

Or is it more than that?

Then there’s Sue Moore, who, as the New York Times reports “sells a high-quality hot dog from cattle raised on pasture, served with fresh grilled onions on top, and who was invited to park her Let’s Be Frank truck at the premiere of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” this week at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

Her partner said “Our policy makers abhor nuance and the subtle but distinct qualities that differentiate fast food from food that can be served fast.”

But as David Zinczenko, editor in chief of Men’s Health magazine says in the Times, we’re beginning to see the monopolization of our dietary intake by a handful of corporations. “Add to that the financial reality of feeding ourselves today, where a single grapefruit from a corner fruit stand costs two or more times as much as a few Chicken McNuggets, and I think you can begin to put together a case for governmental intervention.”

What do you think about all this?