The city of New York continues to force its citizens to be healthier. First the smoking ban, then the trans fats ban, and now fast food and "casual-dining" restaurants are required to post calorie counts on their menus.
Is this okay? Probably. My initial reaction was, "they can't do that!" But they I realized that not only can they legally do that, it might be a good idea. So long as the four-star upscale restaurant doesn't have to measure the energy of each escargot, I applaud the effort to make people at least be conscious of the shit they put into their bodies.
The article posted above quotes a couple people saying that they won't be affected by this, that they'll still eat a Big Mac because "people don't go to McDonald's for a healthy lunch. They go for a fast-food burger and fries." But I don't think so. Many people go to McDonald's because it's convenient and cheap and (they think) they know what it is. But if I were even remotely conscious of my health, I'd hesitate before supersizing it if I saw the calories.
This has been driven home to me more recently, as I've been on a diet. I started it on a whim, deciding that I weighed somewhat too much and that I wanted to lose about 11 pounds by the end of July. It's hard, actually. I've been surprised. After the first week, I had only lost two, and now my discipline is lagging. Especially since I love Taco Bell. Now, I know how bad Taco Bell is, but only because I spend a lot of time on their website (http://www.tacobell.com/ - check out their ad jingle mixes at the top right). I used to pretend to think it was healthy (it's got meat, cheese, vegetables, and bread. Sounds like a great sandwich, right?), and I can easily imagine New Yorkers at least underestimating, if not ignoring, the actual fat content of their Crunchwrap Supreme (sooooo delicious).
So, good job New York, I guess. But I'll admit I'm not thrilling for New Haven to follow suit.
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