“Shoot! It’s just pop …”
by digby
Chris Hayes and his guests talked a little bit about the Bloomberg Big Gulp ban yesterday and it’s interesting to see just how difficult this topic is:
As someone who gave up sugar a while back and feels amazingly better for it (and a whole lot lighter) I can personally attest to to the fact that it is a major problem. In fact, to me it acts like a drug. I think it has that effect on a lot of people. Anyway, I’m not going to say that Bloomberg’s plan makes much sense on its own but there is a problem here that we are going to have to grapple with. A friend of mine teaches 6 year olds and the majority of them are obese. That’s just heartbreaking.
I’ve been sending this article from the NY Times magazine called “The extraordinary science of addictive junk food” around to people I know because it just blew my mind. The similarities between what the tobacco companies did to get people hooked on cigarettes and what these food manufacturers are doing to addict kids to sugar and processed food is eerie. It is creating untold amounts of suffering and heartache — not to mention money. And yet it’s terribly difficult to talk about. Who wants to be a food Nazi?
One thing is clear. A certain number of our brethren consider even talking about this to be an infringement on their personal freedom. Apparently, even little children must be granted the individual liberty to be addicted to junk food. Here’s mother of the year expressing it as only she can:
Halfway through her speech, while describing exchanging guns with her husband Todd for Christmas, the former Alaska governor pulled out a Big Gulp from behind the podium, smirked, took several sips, and remarked, “Oh Bloomberg is not around, our Big Gulp is safe! We’re cool. Shoot, it’s just pop!”
Yeah, it’s just pop. Just like water only really, really unhealthy. You know, these people want to go back to the good old days, but I remember them well and back then the norm was for moms to want their kids to eat vegetables and pop wasn’t one of the major food groups. I guess the village raising our kids today has other ideas. Too bad for the kids — and the adults they’re going to be.
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