No Soup for You

...My blog posts are going to be few and far between over the next four weeks as I’m taking two rather time-consuming graduate classes. My last two days have been spent completing four assignments and I’ll be spending Saturday doing research at the university library.

...Even so, during my lunch break I came across a story detailing the Food and Drug Administration’s continuing effort to ensure that Americans don’t have to be responsible for their own actions, nor do they have to really even think for themselves.

...Such a philosophy has been standard for so-called consumer advocates for years. They routinely blame restaurants for obesity by somehow coming to the conclusion that people are brain-dead zombies that shovel fat- and cholesterol-laden food into their mouths because restaurant advertisements tell them to.

...Keeping with that notion, the FDA has issued a report that encourages restaurants to move the emphasis of their advertising to lower-calorie dishes. They also want restaurants to bundle fruits and vegetables with meals, whether the customer wants it or not, and they’re calling for restaurants to serve smaller portion sizes. (Am I the only one to realize that customers can just order two or three small servings to compensate for one big serving?)

...Taking a rather arrogant view of the situation, Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest explained that restaurant patrons are clueless and need to have others look out for us. “If companies don’t tell them, people have no way of knowing how many calories they are being served at restaurants. And chances are they are being served a lot more than they realize,” she said.

...No offense, Ms. Wootan, but not all of us who dine out are as ignorant as you seem to think. We’re well aware of what we’re putting in our mouths and how big the portions are. We don’t need condescending people like you to explain it to us.

...Restaurant patrons who are so empty-headed that they know absolutely nothing about what they’re eating would have to have been born and raised in the wilderness, cut off from all civilization and basic discussion on healthy eating. For the rest of us who frequent these eateries, we know what we’re eating and how much of it.

...If people choose to eat crap, it should be their choice. If they want to eat a deep-fried bacon quadruple-cheeseburger covered in gravy and served up with biscuits and French fries, they have every right to do so. If, however, they want to have a chef salad with raspberry vinaigrette and a glass of spring water, they have a right to do that, too. Shouldn’t the term “freedom of choice” be applicable to more things than just abortion?

...If we’re not going to allow people to make their own decisions when it comes to what they eat, we might as well go all the way and ensure that everyone eats properly, no matter what. Each restaurant should be assigned a bureaucrat from the FDA to monitor the food orders from each and every patron, making sure that we’re eating what we should be eating. The government official will choose our entrée, our beverage, and whether or not we’re allowed to have dessert.

...Welcome to America. May I take your order?

Source: MSNBC