When government and nanny state types try to trample on liberty, they always use the excuse that their actions are necessary for "our own safety."
And that was the excuse behind the highly intrusive, condescending, and possibly unconstitutional zoning rule passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2008 limiting the opening or expansion of fast food restaurants in mostly minority neighborhoods. The argument was that obesity and other maladies often connected to a diet high in fat and salt are more common among minorities because there are so many unhealthy restaurants where they live.
The mere idea of this line of reasoning was suspect at best. It's primarily based on the faulty notion that free people make bad choices too often because they don't have the smarts, stamina or the means to do the "right" thing.
As someone who has family there, I say Larry is right! Some foods are cultural and filled with fat and salt! We didn't have fast food restaurants in abundance when I grew up but we ate fried foods, those cooked with lard, carb central at best! Not many vegetables and fruits were a part of our diet! We see how Michelle Obama's food choices were received in the schools, the kids did not eat! Govt. is the problem, folk eat what they like!
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