Precept Employee Benefits Blog

This past week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to place a one-year moratorium on new fast food places in a 32 square mile section of their city, in an attempt to encourage people in the designated area to eat healthier, which will go into effect if approved by mayor Antonio Villaragosa.  This comes on the heels of Governor Schwarzenegger signing a statewide mandate banning trans-fat from restaurants for the same purpose.  While these government impositions will hopefully enable people to eat healthier when they dine out, which is of course a noble cause, it is unfortunate that such zeal to produce healthier citizens comes at the cost of personal responsibility and choice.

Admittedly, it may be a little tough to take a hard line stance on the government on this issue.  After all, the endgame of this decision is to increase health by decreasing unhealthy choices, and it is very difficult to view the motive behind the decisions in a negative light.  That being said, it does not grant the rulings themselves the same exemption.  Laws like the ones put forth by the state and local governments the past few weeks ultimately intrude upon important ideas such as personal choice and responsibility.  Granted, from a big picture perspective, the laws are not too unreasonable – menus are not going to suddenly resemble a health food store; it’s not like this week’s Los Angeles ruling is ordering that a wrecking ball be taken to existing fast food places in the designated areas.  However, both decisions at its core boil down to the government making choices on behalf of its people.  If a person wants to eat unhealthy, isn’t it his or her right to do so?  And even though we should rightly be discouraging people from making poor dietary choices, there is a fine line between discouragement and force, and these laws squarely cross into the latter camp. 

Again, the rationale behind these decisions is a worthy one.  There is nothing wrong with desiring better health for people.  However, there has to be a better way to see such a goal come to fruition without the government stepping in to essentially protect people from themselves.