Magic Bullet Fail: Obesity Rose Most in Areas of L.A. Where Fast Food Openings Were Banned
20th March 2015
Elizabeth Nolan Brown peeks behind the curtain.
Lawmakers want one type of eatery, one offending beverage, one no-no nutrient that, if abolished from American diets, will reverse the course on this whole obesity trend. Because what we actually need is a lot more nuanced and a lot tougher sell: widespread shifts in cultural atittudes toward food; increases in nutrition knowledge; and overhauling of food policies that kill innovation and subsidize the foods that are killing us. You can see why lawmakers prefer to focus on limiting the number of McDonald’s.
“Researchers agree that even without an empirical effect, policies can start conversations that change societal norms,” the Times states. Gwendolyn Flynn, nutrition policy director for Community Health Councils, “has noticed that at community meetings in South L.A., there is often fruit and water among the pastries and soda. ‘That’s huge,'” she said.
It might sound radical, but perhaps community meetings could provide fruit and water without a banning economic activity from South L.A.?