Unintended Consequences

[BT]

Happy Meal Ban: McDonald's Outsmarts San Francisco
By Joe Eskenazi
published: Tue., Nov. 29 2011 @ 3:13PM

?On Thursday, Dec. 1, the city's de facto ban of the Happy Meal commences. San Francisco has accomplished what the Hamburglar could not. Or has it?

In order to include a toy with a meal, restaurants must now comply with city-generated nutritional standards. Those are standards that even the "healthier" Happy Meals McDonald's introduced earlier this year don't come close to meeting. (As SF Weekly noted in January, the school lunches our children eat aren't healthy enough to qualify, either).

And yet it seems McDonald's has turned lemons into lemonade -- and is selling the sugary drink to San Francisco's children. Local McDonald's employees tell SF Weekly the company has devised a solution that appears to comply with San Francisco's "Healthy Meal Incentive Ordinance" that could actually make the company more money -- and necessitate toy-happy youngsters to buy more Happy Meals.

It turns out San Francisco has not entirely vanquished the Happy Meal as we know it. Come Dec. 1, you can still buy the Happy Meal. But it doesn't come with a toy. For that, you'll have to pay an extra 10 cents.

Huh. That hardly seems to have solved the problem (though adults and children purchasing unhealthy food can at least take solace that the 10 cents is going to Ronald McDonald House charities). But it actually gets worse from here. Thanks to Supervisor Eric Mar's much-ballyhooed new law, parents browbeaten into supplementing their preteens' Happy Meal toy collections are now mandated to buy the Happy Meals.

Today and tomorrow mark the last days that put-upon parents can satiate their youngsters by simply throwing down $2.18 for a Happy Meal toy. But, thanks to the new law taking effect on Dec. 1, this is no longer permitted. Now, in order to have the privilege of making a 10-cent charitable donation in exchange for the toy, you must buy the Happy Meal. Hilariously, it appears Mar et al., in their desire to keep McDonald's from selling grease and fat to kids with the lure of a toy have now actually incentivized the purchase of that grease and fat -- when, beforehand, a put-upon parent could get out cheaper and healthier with just the damn toy.

?Messages for Mar and his legislative aides -- who are, at this moment, in a Board of Supervisors meeting -- have not yet been returned.

In any event, it appears the fast food chain's sharpie lawyers have McTopped San Francisco's legislators. Count this city's lawmakers as the latest among the billions and billions served.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/11/happy_meal_ban_mcdonalds_outsm.php

[BSB]

America the fat.

Obesity is a serious problem in America now. I remember seeing pictures of Russians at a beach when the USSR was in its final days. They were the fattest, ugliest, most out of shape, people I'd ever seen, up to that point, that is. Now you can see the same thing on any beach in this country.

Can you legislate that out of existence? I doubt it, but people need to push themselves away from the table, eat right, and see that their children get of to a better start in this regard.

BSB

[kimba1]

lately i`ve been trying to cut meat and salt from my diet in attempt to lower my bp witout medication. I find most places serve salads with some meat in it. I`m definately not anti-meat but it`s seriously tough to cut weight without speaking up.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I have found that Ramen or egg noodles with a cup or so of frozen  Japanese Mixed Vegetables cooked for 10 minutes in a plastic microwave pot is quite tasty. You can add a little chicken boullon or perhaps a few shrimp and get a couple of filling meals out of it. The vegetables are mushrooms, carrots,broccoli green beans and diced red bell pepper.

You could google the Holy Cross Diet and try that. It is a diet that consists entirely of a cabbage and veggie soup.

[kimba1]

opps mispoke

I meant restaurant eating
home cooking is easy for me, just just grab a buunch of veggies boil it with cubed spam and I`m all set

[Xavier_Onassis]

If you want to lose weight, McDonald's is probably a place to avoid. The calories of each dish are listed online. Wendy's salads are pretty good, but I have not checked the calories.

Spam is not exactly a diet food. You could substitute chicken and make it with fewer calories.

[BSB]

Those of us who grew up in America faced a plate at dinner time with half of it covered by a piece of red meat, or chicken, or whatever, with a couple of smaller servings of vegetable, potatoes, etc. Or that's what I looked at. Now my mother was a good cook, so I'm not knocking her, she'd find a way to get me if I did, Buddha rest her soul. But, that's not the way to eat. It should be just the opposite. A small serving, 3 or 4 ozs., of lean protein, and a couple to three large servings of fresh, or frozen vegetables, with some carbohydrates, like brown rice. Stay away from white rice it doesn't break down as beneficially for us as brown rice, or other whole grains.

If you eat that way the your extra weight will come off automatically. There is no need to diet beyond eating well and getting in some exercise.

BSB

[Xavier_Onassis]

The rule I have heard is that a serving of meat should be no larger than a deck of playing cards.

As we get older, we get less exercise and our bodies can process food more efficiently, and we do not need so much. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight.

[Plane]

http://www.kardwell.com/jumbo-cards-cat-page.htm



Super Jumbo Playing Cards
(10-1/4" x 14-1/2")

[Xavier_Onassis]

But not that size playing cards, the usual sized ones, of course.

[sirs]

http://www.kardwell.com/jumbo-cards-cat-page.htm



Super Jumbo Playing Cards
(10-1/4" x 14-1/2")

 

[kimba1]

I just use spam to make the food edible. Boiled vegetables makes a very bland soup. Spam and tomato paste perks it right up.

Unless I puts a bitter plant like watercress or colaredgreens in it.