Posted on 09/04/2012 11:47:41 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
So, what I’m hearing is, it’s pretty much the same as the old agenda, except perhaps ramped up another nanny-state notch.
In a yet another classic case of an inefficient, meddlesome bureaucracy attacking the symptoms instead of the disease (and causing a whole host of costs, inefficiencies, and waste in the process), the federal government via First Lady Michelle Obama has made it their business to “solve the problem of obesity within a generation.” In an audacious display of utter disdain for free-market signals, part of this effort includes nineteen separate government programs that aim to eliminate “food deserts” — areas where fresh, nutritious food is ostensibly hard to come by — by subsidizing the availability of fresh produce and whatnot in these supposedly underserved areas. The effort has already proved demonstrably inefficient, but when has that ever stopped bureaucratic do-gooders on a big-government tear? And now it sounds like she wants to not only make healthy food more available, but to make unhealthy food less available. From CNSNews:
Asked by Parade magazine, “What do you hope to accomplish in your second term?” First Lady Michelle Obama said she wants to “impact the nature of food in grocery stores” with the aim of cutting sugar, fat and salt.
“With ‘Lets Move!,’ our goal is to end the problem of childhood obesity in a generation,” Mrs. Obama said. “And while we’ve seen some very profound cultural shifts, we still have communities that don’t have access to affordable and healthy foods. We still need to find a way to impact the nature of food in grocery stores, in terms of sugar, fat, and salt.”
Mrs. Obama also discussed the challenge of “educating families” on healthy lifestyles in a society where “TV is rampant.”
I don’t really have a problem with the First Lady of the United States working to combat childhood obesity, in theory. Obesity is a serious and far too rampant problem in this country, and if Michelle Obama wants to use her platform as a public figure to champion the cause, traveling around to schools to educate kids and parents about healthy lifestyles or advocating on behalf of a worthy foundation or something — great. What I most certainly do have a problem with is the federal government using public resources and policy fiat to construct the bike-path-using, salad-eating, quinoa-cookin’ society of their crunchiest daydreams because that’s how they think society should look.
Bureaucratic endeavors to instill top-down virtue almost never fail to fall spectacularly flat, and usually come with a whole mess of unintended consequences and hidden costs, or even end up achieving the opposite of their intended effect. (Example: One of the reasons corn syrup, a.k.a. the sweetener in many processed foods, is so cheap is because the federal government subsidizes the corn industry to spur ethanol production — which in turn, by the way, incentivizes the agriculture industry to bring even more marginal land area into production. The road to obesity runs through chopped-down forests and is paved with good intentions. Dizzying, isn’t it?)
Besides, it’s really just not a good idea for the government to be involved in telling us what we should and shouldn’t be eating. Food can be a tricky business, and the scientific community is always telling us new and conflicting things. The conventional wisdom à la the old USDA food pyramid used to be that bread/cereal/grains/pasta should take up the largest portion of your diet, while you should barely eat any fat at all; now there’s a bunch of data and studies corroborating that white flour and starch is just about the worst thing you can eat and that a larger helping of certain types of fat (omega-3 fatty acids, for instance) is not only desirable but necessary for a well-rounded diet. I’ve also heard about studies suggesting that adult human beings really aren’t meant to ingest dairy, and that we shouldn’t be eating so much fruit because all of the sugars. Who knows what’s next? Maybe we’ll find out that high levels of sodium are actually the best thing since sliced bread! The science is too changeable and political, so maybe these decisions are better left up to individual choice rather than the government’s oh-so-august endorsement.
Anyhow, as I’ve argued before, the best, most penetrating way to encourage the largest number of people to become more health-conscious and to devote more of their time and resources to what they eat is to also encourage an economically robust, prosperous, growing society in which individual incomes are constantly on the rise. Subsidizing more produce in urban grocery stores and going deeper into debt to start up more after-school sports programs ain’t gonna’ cut it. More wealth is the only thing that’s ever going to effectively establish more Whole-Foods type communities across the country, and President Obama’s first-term agenda — more taxes, ObamaCare, a regulatory explosion, etcetera — didn’t do much for the cause.
Not just “single-parent pregnancies” ... single-parent pregnancies amongst “Holder’s people”.
I expect it will if they gain a second term.
about to say the same as soon as I read this.
To add I supose like all god dictators she and her family will be in the white house, our house BTW stuffing their fat faces with all the god fod paid for by us while we go ut and purchase store food brands and miss ut on what we really want to eat.
If she wants to make people healthy then cut the crap which so many welfare people get
“Let Them Eat Arugula!”
Moochelle Antoinette
just said the same, if she wanted to get some healthy food then stop the crap welfare people get on our dime.
No more soda’s, chips, fatty foods, .
Nope only fruit, cereal, veggies, chicken, turkey and fish.
That is it, oh wait silly me if she did that the left wuld lose millions of votes.
Never mind that then just let fat bum and her family eat in our house paid for by us and eat the best food paid for by us.
Hell they do not even have to worry about toilet roll, tissues, electric, A/C , heating, etc
exactly
make food stamp only good for purchase of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and skim dairy
Skinny welfare folks in one generation
Who wants denatured Wookie food?
my son was with one of his friends and getting a lift home off his father in their 2012 Ford Taurus.
My 14 year odl my oldest has been taught about politics since he was very small and knows what he is on about.
The kids father pulls over and tellshis son to run into Winn Dixie[a store here] and get a 2L soda.
My son goes with him and he sees his friend pull out what looked like a credit card.
My son said how do you have a credit card and the freidn replies”oh no this is my dads, “
My sons looks more closly and see EBT.
WTH. they have a brand new Taurus which are nice top of the range too but on food stamps and also rent over a $1000 house
How on earth can someone have welfare with a brand new car, I must point out that all their family is way over weight.
f we have to help people out then by all means, people lose jobs etc but to let them get junk and snack food is sickening
If they gain a second term, it’ll be “Presidente for Life”.
“In order to combat the higher food prices caused by my consort’s idiotic economic policies we’re going to cause shortages so there won’t be so much to spend money on. Send Barack $3 dollars too!” - Mad Mo
Keep on talking and keep on dreaming.
Earth To”MooCHelle”.There will be less food(because of the drought)and NObody will be able to afford it any way because od ObamaFlation and High Energy Costs.The good News?We’re all going to lose weight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I second that emotion! These people are scary!!!! I need some Micky D’s french fries, right away!
Now..it looks like 2 watermelons stuffed in a sleeping bag....
...and shes pissed!!!.........I don't know any conservatives the go to the extreme of plastic surgery...I know 6 liberals that have....
Sure hope she sticks with basic carbon-hydrogen-oxygen compounds, but with the Obamas you never really know.
I don't know if humans can digest the new silicon-, sulfur- and boron-based alternatives.
.I don’t know any conservatives the go to the extreme of plastic surgery...I know 6 liberals that have....
_____________________________________________________________
That’s because they are terrified of growing old.....knowing their very own beliefs (that the old should be euthanized).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.