New Fast-Food Studies Reveal No-Brainers

Amazingly, two studies released this week found that fast food cannot force you to eat it. 

A 30-year study of Massachusetts adults found that those "who live close to fast food restaurants may not weigh any more than the rest of us," contradicting the results of earlier, more limited studies on the relationship between obesity and proximity to fast-food restaurants.

A new UC Davis study found that "fast food alone cannot be blamed for high obesity rates among people with low incomes ... The research calls into question stereotypes that have led some cities in Southern California to cite obesity when passing laws limiting or banning new fast-food restaurants in poorer communities." (This study also found that guys are more likely to eat out than women. Duh!)

Rawesome Raid Was a Year in the Making

The LA Times has done a follow-up story on the Rawesome Foods raid that occured this summer in Venice, CA. It turns out that 10 law enforcement and regulatory agencies including the FDA and the LAPD spent a year on an undercover investigation of the raw-food store.

A law professor quoted in the story says "It may sound like overkill. But from the agencies' perspective, they want to show they can do their version of a major case. They don't want to lose it." In other words, bureaucrats want to feel important and make their authority felt. To non-bureaucrats, it looks ridiculous to run an armed raid on a food store as if it were a drug lab.

"But attorneys for the defendants believe the investigation and raid on Rawesome was overkill. They said regulators could have made their point with citations and fines. Using undercover agents and hidden surveillance cameras to put farmers and health-food advocates behind bars was a reach, they said.

"'It's a tremendous misuse of resources and a waste of time,' said Matthew Bromund, the attorney representing Palmer and her farm. 'The kind of investigation that was done in this case is similar to what you see in a violent criminal enterprise, something the mob would be involved in.'"

For the glut of agencies in our bloated government, raw means war.

How Does Her Garden Grow?

Well, it may be early in the season but this book just shot to the top of my Christmas list.



As readers of this blog already know, the First Lady is obsessed with changing American families, schools, and communities. Almost as obsessed as she is with gobbling fries while trying to cut off the fries for everyone else.

And the title reminds everybody of how proud she's always been of her country.

(Note: The preceding message contains sarcasm. Also, I need to take a break from blogging about Michelle Obama.)

Quick Bites: Out-of-Touch Steak, Fake Maple Syrup, Etc.

• It seems like the diets of Republican politicians are more scrutinized than those of Democratic ones. (I know, I know; Bill Clinton took some heat for his chowdowns.) Either their diets make them somehow "unfit for office" (like Chris Christie) or "out of touch," which is what the opponents of Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy are claiming. 
• "Get Ready for Uncle Sam's Assault on Salt": The Washington Times has a good overview of the Obama Administration's food regulations and why they're doomed to failure (in terms of improving people's diets, at least).
• Inmate #1: "So what are you in here for?" Inmate #2: "I got five years for selling fake maple syrup." Inmate #1: "You are a monster. Hey warden, can you put me with a murderer instead?" (As Vanilla Ice said, "Anything less than the best is a felony.")

Myth Busters

Many big-government ideas for food policy are based on certain myths: That people in poor neighborhoods lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and are surrounded by too many fast-food restaurants; that advertising forces people to choose bad foods; and that most people are too cash-strapped and uninformed to eat well. How nice to see a “helping of skepticism about the causes of Americans’ poor eating habits—and the effectiveness of political fixes” in the Washington Post by Katherine Mangu-Ward, managing editor of Reason. Click here to read the entire article, titled “Five Myths About Healthy Eating;” below are some choice excerpts:

“But the prevalence of food deserts is almost certainly overstated. Not having a supermarket in your Zip code isn’t the last word in access to healthy food. According to the USDA, 93 percent of ‘desert’ dwellers have access to a car. And farmers markets, often overlooked in surveys of rich and poor neighborhoods alike, have tripled since 1994.”

“Dinner menus are the product of subtle and pervasive food cultures, which can’t be tweaked from the East Wing.”

“The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has concluded that ‘current evidence is not sufficient to arrive at any finding about a causal relationship from television advertising to adiposity [excess weight] among children and youth’ … Cracking down on advertisers gives politicians a scapegoat, but it doesn’t make kids, or their parents, healthier.”

“The same study that found no effect on diet from increased access to fruits and vegetables also found that proximity to fast-food restaurants had only a small effect, and it was limited to young, low-income men.”

“Eliminating access to fast food and other junk food means taking away choices, something Americans don’t tend to like, even (or perhaps especially) when it’s for their own good.” 

War on Fries: Senate Keeps Spuds in Schools

From the AP:Senate votes for unlimited potatoes in schools

By Mary Clare Jalonick

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate threw its support behind the potato Tuesday, voting to block an Obama administration proposal to limit the vegetable on school lunch lines.

Agriculture Department rules proposed earlier this year aimed to reduce the amount of french fries in schools, limiting lunchrooms to two servings a week of potatoes and other starchy vegetables. That angered the potato industry, some school districts and members of Congress from potato-growing states, who say USDA should focus on the preparation instead and that potatoes can be a good source of fiber and potassium.

"Unlimited potatoes"—I like the sound of that. So, no government-imposed ‘potato famine’ in U.S. schools for now? That's good news, and a nice counterpoint to the other school lunch news story that got wide play this week: the magnet school in Danville, IL that only serves healthy food. At this school, the students apply to attend (fair enough) and the parents have to sign a health contract (creepy).

I always thought of a magnet school as one that focuses on teaching certain skills. This one teaches eating habits, which is more like a year-round dieting camp.

I think it’s safe to say that most parents want public schools to teach life skills, not lifestyles. First Lady Michelle Obama articulated the opposite philosophy when she said this week, “That's why we start with kids, right? We can affect who they will be forever.” Affecting who kids will become is the job of real families, not the “federal family” or the public schools.

For Those Dumb Enough to Confuse Fruit Snacks with Actual Fruit

Never fear, dumb parents, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is filing a class action lawsuit against General Mills for supposedly misleading claims of healthfulness about Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot, and Fruit Gushers.

As CSPI admits, the snacks' packaging says they are “fruit flavored” (as opposed to real fruit) and the ingredients are listed as required. But apparently that's not enough in the way of disclosure. Maybe General Mills will have to rename them 'Toxic Yucky Snacks' to please the litigating busybodies.

Now if you want to talk about tricky food labeling, let's talk about juice. Have you ever gone down the juice aisle and realized how few of the cranberry juice drinks are actually 100% percent juice? Maybe one or two out of 15 juice drinks. I've had to learn my way around the juice aisle the hard way, and yet it's never occurred to me to sue anybody.

This Reservation Eats Fresh

Diane Sawyer's report about the American Indian reservation whose main source of fresh veggies is, supposedly, a Subway restaurant pretty much confirms two things:

1. Subway really is everywhere. (They recently surpassed McDonald's for number of locations.)

2. Private industry will solve the problem of 'food deserts' better than Big Government will.


I'm still suspicious about the whole concept of a food desert--it strikes me as an easy excuse for why certain areas have such an obesity problem and why government must step in to solve it.

That said, it seems more plausible to me that a food desert could exist on a reservation than in an urban area. Reservations just seem more ... deserted. But they have a lot of open land on them ... the residents could plant some fruit and veggie gardens, right?

Quick Bites: Olive Garden Ousts Old Glory, Ketchup-less French Fries, Etc.

• Olive Garden is starting to tick me off. Last month, they lamely agreed to cut fries from their kids menu. Then, an OG in Alabama told the Kiwanis Club not to display the American flag at an award banquet they were to hold there. Now, after ensuing the media firestorm, OG has apologized. It's nice to know that the star-spangled banner can again wave o'er the land of the refillable salad and the home of the greasy breadsticks, but I'm sure many groups will now think twice before meetings at an OG anytime soon.
• The 'cones' (Ben & Jerry) are trying to be the Kochs of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
• France bans ketchup from its public schools.
• Here's evidence that the food-truck fad, like all fads, is getting less cool with time.
• Hmmm, did he run this statement by the big boss first?
  "White House chef: Sodas aren't the problem"
• Man vs. a grilled cheese and blueberry donut.

War on Fries: French Fries Are Her Frenemy

When First Lady Michelle Obama admitted she has "a good relationship with French fries" at a press conference, it was one of the few times I thought she seemed humorous, approachable, or empathetic. We all have our guilty pleasures, don't we? What we don't all have are a federal program dedicated to pushing a certain lifestyle and diet on the little people who we think need us.

We've heard about Michelle's chow-down at the Shake Shack, and maybe wondered why she couldn't have had the burgers, fries, and shakes brought in to the White House where she could have indulged privately (seeing how she's supposed to be setting a great example and all). Now, we have word from Paula Deen that Michelle was enthusiastically eating fried foods at a taping of her cooking show, even between commercials.

Given all that we know about her eating habits and contrasting that knowledge with her public stance on health, it's hard not to tag the First Lady as a hypocrite, considering that just last month she got a major restaurant chain to take fries off their kids' menus. The message seems to be "Yes we can, but no you can't" when it comes to eating indulgent foods.  

In the spirit of eat-and-let-eat, I say let her enjoy her fries and toasted-marshmallow milkshakes. Let her also stop telling people what to feed themselves and their children.

45 Czars—This Is What Democracy Looks Like?

Here’s a mind-blowing factoid for you: America currently has 50% more czars than Russia ever did (Obama has 45, Russia had 30), according to a new report from conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. One of them is Michael R. Taylor, Obama’s food safety czar, who ordered an FDA raid on an Amish farm in Pennsylvania in April for selling unpasteurized milk. (Reason.com has more on the farm raid here.)

I don’t know about you, comrade, but when I think about dangerous forces imperiling our great-nation-gone-soft, I put 'Amish farmers' and 'edgy dairy products' near the top of the list, right under ‘Too many czars’ and ‘The possibility that Rebecca Black will record songs for the other six days of the week.’

Obama's Cooked

While Americans are clearly losing their appetite for Obama, someone in China must think he's still marketable. By now, you may have seen this photo around the Internet of a restaurant in China called Obama Fried Chicken.



It warms my heart to think of how it must disturb the liberal food police to see their Dear Leader be associated with icky, evil fried foods. I imagine KFC's legal department is also less than amused.

Seeing this sign made me think of a few other ideas for Obama-themed chains:

Tac-O Bell
Slogan: Think Outside the Constitution

In-N-Out
Slogan: That's What A One-Termer's All About

Biz-no's
Mmmm ... small businesses are toasted!

McO'Bama's
Classic slogan: You Deserve Universal Health Care Today

Can't-I-Just-Eat-My-Waffle House
Slogan: If You Have Any Dough, We'll Stick It To Ya

Subway (You wouldn't need to change the name because Obama is in love with public transportation schemes like light rail)
Slogan: Eat Fresh from Michelle's White House Garden

DreamsFromMyGodfather's Pizza
Slogan: I Think I'll Trade Jobs with Herman Cain

O-by's
Slogan: It's Get-The-Nation-In-A-Good-Mood-By-2012-Or-Else Food

(Other names and slogans are welcome in the comments. Or tweet them to  #ObamaRestaurants)

12/8/11 Update: Another Obama-themed restaurant has popped up overseas, this time in Sweden. (Hat tip to The Wall Street's Journal's James Taranto, who humorously classified the headline "Hungry Swedes queue up for Obamas sausage" as "Too Much Information.")

Quick Bites: Hunger Hoax, Cheesehead Reaper, Choco-Bacon

• Thomas Sowell takes down "the hunger hoax."
• Rob Long, a Hollywood writer/producer and contributor to National Review and Ricochet.com, gives a somewhat surprising shout-out to Mark Bittman, the liberal New York Times food writer. "It's one of those tiresome left-wing cliches -- people eat junk food because it's cheaper than regular old supermarket food," writes Long, praising Bittman "for kicking that old left wing shibboleth to the curb." (This summer, this blog and many others criticized Bittman for his editorial calling for a tax on junk food.)

• The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) put up an anti-cheese billboard in Wisconsin which depicted a Grim Reaper figure wearing a cheesehead hat. The PCRM later obscured the cheesehead after a company that manufactures foam "cheeseheads" threatened legal action.
• Shhh, don't tell the food police, but I recently tried some chocolate-covered bacon ... is it as good as it sounds?

Can You Tell Her How to Get Some Sesame Seeds?

Sesame Street is introducing a new muppet: her name is Lilly and she's from a poor family who deals with "food insecurity." Lilly presumably represents the estimated 17 million American children who have limited or uncertain access to food. So I guess Sesame Street is located in an urban "food desert"--who knew?

I seem to recall that the food police forced Cookie Monster to cut back on the cookies years ago. Maybe he can share some of the cookies he's saved with Lilly?

I know that there are hungry families out there, and it's a sad thing. They are the ones who are truly poor, rather than the 'poor' children who we are constantly told are getting too fat. In some cases, personal responsibility is more of a factor than income or access to food.

Fat Tax: A Rotten Idea from Denmark



Sounds like Danish bleu will get more expensive,
at least in Denmark.

You know liberals--they're always trying to make America more like Europe. Denmark's "fat tax" is one of the latest freedom-killing Euro-concepts to light up the leftist imagination.

The tax basically adjusts food prices to correspond with the percentage of fat in it (or, about $3 for every 2.2 pounds of saturated fat).

Danish politicians say the tax is an attempt to raise falling life expectancies. It's said that death and taxes are inevitable, but I guess Danish liberals think that this new tax can put death off for a few years. 

On a Today show segment yesterday, ad executive Donny Deutsch and NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman "literally applauded the move." Star Jones had a good response: "No, you're not helping anybody, not by taxing. That's not the way that you help people." She's right: it's the way you seize more of people's money and liberty while self-righteously claiming to help them.

MyMicrowave

Oh joy: GE's newest microwaves have a built-in MyPlate feature to help you make government-approved meals more easily.

According to BusinessWire, "To help consumers prepare healthier meals, GE over-the-range microwave ovens now include a MyPlate button that allows users to easily cook foods found in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recommended dietary guidelines. For example, consumers can use GE’s MyPlate feature to select a preset for cooking specific vegetables, such as fresh asparagus, frozen green beans, or numerous other options in each USDA MyPlate category – fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins."

And here you thought microwaves were just for warming up your Hot Pockets and super-salty popcorn.

It's not exactly coincidental that GE is the first company to build MyPlate-enabled microwaves. As The Blaze's Jonathon M. Seidl points out, "GE has long had a cozy relationship with the Obama administration. GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, for example, is the president of Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

"In the past, GE has received a greenhouse gas exemption and Citizens for Tax Justice points out the company pays some of the lowest taxes." Well, who says this administration doesn't like big business?

No news yet on whether the new microwaves will report the unhealthy foods you nuke to the government (A-SnackWatch, perhaps?).