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?).

Quick Bites: Pizza Man Rising, Oz's Apples

• It's the Pizza Man: As I more or less predicted, the liberal media is using Herman Cain's experience as CEO of Godfather's Pizza as a way to dismiss him as a serious candidate, even as voters are taking his candidacy more seriously. And, of course, the fact that Chris Christie probably likes to eat his share of pizza is being used against him, even though he denies he'll run for President.
• Dr. Oz, whose high media profile is one of Oprah's most unfortunate legacies, is taking heat for an episode in which he claimed that unsafe levels of arsenic had been found in samples of apple juice.
• Chipotle wants you to care about how much they care about sustainable farming and piggies and cows and ... stuff. Me, I mostly care about how my burrito tastes.

There's No Denying Their Agenda

If you still think that the food police are just objective, concerned, scientific types which no political axe to grind, this quote from Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a self-described nonprofit consumer watchdog group, should make you think again:

“Denying the science on food marketing and childhood obesity is like denying the science on global warming or evolution, and the Administration should not retreat in the face of the baseless arguments of food-industry lobbyists.”

This kind of attack is right out of the far-left playbook: pronounce your views as being equivalent to "science," label those who disagree with you as "deniers" or "haters," insult anybody with a Bible-based worldview, and use name-calling to pressure your opponents into silence. And these words come from an "expert" who is frequently quoted in mainstream news stories about food and nutrition.

Also, has Wootan never heard of the "Climategate" scandal that's been unfolding over the last few years? I'm guessing whatever science she's referring to linking food marketing and childhood obesity is more solid than the science on global warming. And Darwin's theory is just that--a theory. To normal people, Darwinism and global warming are debatable matters, but to radical lefties they are articles of faith.

As you might guess, the CSPI is one of the head stations for the liberal food police, which has been shamelessly politicizing food for 40 years.

(Emphasis mine)

Adjust Your Taste Buds, People

From theblaze.com: "Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Americans need to 'adjust' their tastes so they will like eating nutritious foods."

Yes, Mr. Secretary, many dieters out there wish healthy eating was as easy as 'adjusting' their taste buds so they'd only crave the healthy stuff. But it's their choice and responsibility, not the government's. And if that line didn't work when our moms used it on us as kids, why would it work now?