culture war and class action lawsuits (was Re: NYTimes.com Article)

[Guest guest]

hi, jeffrey and all--

> Nah, no need for a war.

no need for a " ...culture war for the new century. The battlefield is

the American diet... " ?

> I'll admit that I didn't read the article (don't do the times and

its

> gateway). but from things I've read there are two issues. One is an

> attempt to control what parents pack in a kids lunch. I find this

> reprehensible. The other is putting an end to the whoredom whereby

> schools get money for having Pepsi or Coke machines. If the schools

> are to function _in loco parentis_, they have an obligation to

> provide the best nutrition possible. >

it's a shame that you didn't read the article...well, it's a shame

that the abstract --as well as the headline-- that they provided was

woefully inadequate. i had trusted it to be better than that because

the article goes way beyond the issues that you mentioned.

" Lawyers who pioneered suits against tobacco companies have set their

sights on what they call Big Food as the next target. Class-action

lawsuits have been filed in New York and Florida contending that

processed foods with little nutritional value have misled consumers.

The lawyers filing these suits hope to do to Mega Gulps and Twinkies

what they did to Joe Camel and tobacco.

This week Congress took up legislation, the Obesity Prevention and

Treatment Act, that would start a campaign to improve the eating

habits in the nation, where more than 60 percent of adults are

overweight.

The food industry and its lobbyists have started fighting back,

running radio advertisements that criticize " food nags " as trying to

take away choice. "

allene, who would love a good fight

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: " allenerob " <sallene@...>

> This week Congress took up legislation, the Obesity Prevention and

> Treatment Act, that would start a campaign to improve the eating

> habits in the nation, where more than 60 percent of adults are

> overweight.

A war on obesity, eh? I predict that ten years after the passage of this

legislation, butter and beef will be black market items, and the obesity

rate will have shot up to 90%.

[Guest guest]

At 06:46 PM 5/21/2002 -0700, you wrote:

>----- Original Message -----

>From: " allenerob " <sallene@...>

>

> > This week Congress took up legislation, the Obesity Prevention and

> > Treatment Act, that would start a campaign to improve the eating

> > habits in the nation, where more than 60 percent of adults are

> > overweight.

>

>A war on obesity, eh? I predict that ten years after the passage of this

>legislation, butter and beef will be black market items, and the obesity

>rate will have shot up to 90%.

You are correct. Rush had a guest host today. He said that we didn't care

when the government started taxing smokers, which is true we didn't care,

most applauded it. But now we will not be so smug when the government

starts taxing any food the government does not consider " healthy and

nutritious. "