Celebrating Freedom By Acting Like Other Adults' Mommy
Via Overlawyered, there were food restrictions for those who wanted to watch the fireworks on public land in Howard County, Maryland. Amanda Yeager reports for the Balt Sun:
On Friday, vendors running booths at the county's flagship fireworks event will have to comply with new regulations on their food and drink offerings for the first time since Howard County Executive Ken Ulman passed an executive order to ban sugary drinks and restrict other junk food in county buildings and at county-sponsored events.While Ulman and health advocates have touted the regulations -- the first and only of their kind in the state -- as an important step in the fight against obesity, some vendors have balked at what they consider unnecessarily restrictive rules.
The executive order, signed into law on Dec. 11, 2012, effectively bans non-diet sodas at county-sponsored events and limits the percentage of high-calorie packaged snacks that vendors can offer.
According to the regulations, 50 percent of packaged food offered at county events must contain 200 calories or less per portion. Non-diet cold drinks must contain 40 calories or less, and diet drinks may only contain five calories and constitute only 33 percent of a vendor's beverage offerings.
Wanna buy a black market doughnut?
And does anybody think this is making fat people thinner? PS Per Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat," it is carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.
So that reduced calorie hot dog bun and that banana you're eating aren't doing you any favors.
If you want to get thin, you eat high fat, low-carb food. Like bacon.
Street food in other countries is delicious, some of it healthy some of it not. So are their drinks.
Food here in the US is atrocious for the most part (not all but you have to be selective). If I want good cake I gotta drive to the Taiwanese bakeries. Otherwise it tastes like a bagful of sugar or cardboard box ( Whole Foods).
I'm curious why we are so bad at food and great at everything else. Our chocolate doesn't even classify as chocolate anymore and is more of a chocolate like product.
Also we don't teach our kids how to eat, people go to extremes. I know here in CA feeding your children a vegan diet is acceptable and encouraged.
We need to overhaul our food culture. Why people drink so much diet soda and think its ok is beyond me. Or why anyone thinks its healthy ?
I think the issue is parents dont know how to cook.
Ppen at July 4, 2014 11:05 PM
All they'll do is put "3 servings" on the label of a single-serving food. I saw a donut once that was labeled 75 calories per serving... with 3.5 servings per donut. This was a regular sized donut.
NicoleK at July 5, 2014 12:12 AM
That this is happening in Maryland does not surprise me - that is a VERY liberal state; so most folks there most likely think it is a good idea.
They got the government they voted for.
I'm just glad that I don't live there!
Charles at July 5, 2014 3:16 AM
Our love of HFCS and large portions is what's making us fat. Legislation won't help that.
I remember (dimly) going to McDonalds, spending about a buck on a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. There was no "large" fries and the largest Coke had to be maybe 16 oz??? And we were full.
Of course, I was smaller then.
drcos at July 5, 2014 5:00 AM
The big overall superiority of low-carb, low-glycemic-index diets over other approaches to healthy weight loss is simply not supported by the large-scale randomized trials in this area. See e.g.,
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=410671
Charlie Cheesehead at July 5, 2014 5:57 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4820918">comment from Charlie CheeseheadCharlie, not true. I don't have time to vet those studies, but often, the low-carb diet-knocking studies are not truly low-carb.
http://www.dietdoctor.com/science
For those who'd like to have the science explained to them, try Dr. Michael Eades' blog: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ and follow him @DrEades on Twitter.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 6:48 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4820924">comment from Amy AlkonFurthermore, Nina Teicholz lays out the errors by Ancel Keys and the BS behind the mediterranean diet in her new book, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.
I really didn't need my time wasted this morning, Charlie Cheesehead. Now I'll get to my writing.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 6:51 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4820928">comment from Amy AlkonWait, more from Eades (read replies from him about the study at the link):
https://twitter.com/DrEades/status/470985719855722496
@DrEades
RCT of T2 Diabetics shows #lowcarb diet drives better wt loss & lowers HgbA1C better than low-fat. http://mead.es/1teijxa
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 6:53 AM
Ulman is a lawyer and legacy pol (papa a crony of Paris Glendenning) who's worked on campaigns since he was 22; He first ran for public office at 28, and has been a f/t public official since age 32.
What hits you reading The Sun editorial endorsing (with some qualifications) this sugary drinks mess a year and a half ago is that for this crew (newspapermen and the physicians and school administrators they have on their rolodexes) the value of petty and cloying social engineering projects is just a given. There are no true externalities associated with drinking Sprite or eating twinkies. This is just a matter of bourgeois pests who fancy that their tastes are normal and everyone else's are deviant and ye shall have their ministrations whether you like it or not. At least Mrs. Jellyby's objects were actually suffering.
Art Deco at July 5, 2014 7:34 AM
There are ways around this. At a convenient store I once saw an individually wrapped gigantic muffin for sale that boasted only 150 calories a serving, but the serving size was one-third of the muffin.
Patrick at July 5, 2014 7:38 AM
@Art Deco: This is just a matter of bourgeois pests who fancy that their tastes are normal and everyone else's are deviant and ye shall have their ministrations whether you like it or not. At least Mrs. Jellyby's objects were actually suffering.
Damn, Art, I was just gonna say it was a matter of some people spotting other people having fun, and feeling compelled to spoil it. But you said it better, and a Dickens reference always helps.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at July 5, 2014 7:41 AM
Funny thing is, both of the studies Charlie Cheesehead referenced support Amy's point about the low-carb diet. In both, the low-carb outperformed the other diets. So there's that.
AB at July 5, 2014 7:44 AM
I was also gonna say, "Ha! I'm glad I live in Virginia!" But our state recently banned Uber and Lyft from operating within Virginia borders, and I started wondering what the busybodies in Richmond would get onto next.
On the other hand, if the Cato Institute has it right, the Uber/Lyft thing may be changing.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at July 5, 2014 7:47 AM
The counties surrounding Howard County in Maryland are: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's. All these have the opportunity next year of advertising themselves as holding the "non-funsucking festivals," if they but seize the moment.
But I'll bet you a nickel all those county governments thought Howard's scheme was a great idea, and will try to be even "healthier" than the scolds in Ellicott City were.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at July 5, 2014 7:55 AM
More disturbing than the subject matter is the tyrant did it by "executive order." We have traded the lords and ladies of Europe for our own lords and ladies who think "leadership" is issuing diktats for the inferior masses.
Bill O Rights at July 5, 2014 8:08 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4821046">comment from Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com)Carroll County: "We have tasty snacks!"
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 8:08 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4821047">comment from ABHah - thanks, AB. I didn't read them. Have to write my column and then work on my next book, which is coming along!
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 8:10 AM
> Our love of HFCS and large portions is what's making us fat. Legislation won't help that
Legislation has helped create that situation, e.g. import tariffs on alternatives and corn subsidies make HFCS comparative cheap, so it's just shoved into everything.
> Street food in other countries is delicious, some of it healthy some of it not.
True that.
Lobster at July 5, 2014 8:28 AM
> Charlie, not true. I don't have time to vet those studies, but often, the low-carb diet-knocking studies are not truly low-carb.
The converse is also true - sometimes what purports to be a non-low-carb diet happens to incidentally be a low-carb diet, and is why it worked - for example, if you have a diet that effectively says to eat half as much as you do now, the RATIOS of food types (e.g. carbs:protein:fat) may remain the same, but your absolute net carb intake (and thus consequent insulin response etc.) may tip below the threshold of causing weight gain. Nutritional science is mostly practiced badly.
In any case, what I can say for sure is that moderating my carb intake is the only thing that works for me ... and it's not just for weight, I have more energy and better concentration. Too much carbs often makes me feel tired and lazy. (I think carbs make me tired because the insulin is telling my cells to store fat rather than metabolize glucose or fat stores for energy ... this also has two 'side effects' that are bad for your weight: 1. it makes you feel hungry still (because your body is storing what you eat not burning it for energy) and 2. it makes you feel lazy (again for the same reason) ... people think they get fat because they are lazy ... I think the causation is the other way round - you feel lazy because you are getting fat - i.e. your body is sort of in 'store food' 'mode' not 'burn food for energy' mode, and the reason you can't get your ass off the couch isn't because you're lazy it's because you're eating wrong).
Lobster at July 5, 2014 8:40 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4821101">comment from LobsterThere are crepe stands all over Paris, with Nutella and other spreads available, yet I am somehow able to pass them and not just stand there gorging.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 8:53 AM
Millions of years of evolution cannot suddenly have left 75% of us 'lazy'.
The conventional wisdom is to eat lots of carbs then do lots of "regular exercise" to burn it off, then we're made to feel guilty for being too "lazy" to exercise because our ass seems stuck to the couch. But if I understand correctly, the causation does not go like this:
1. You're "lazy", so you
2. Don't exercise, so you
3. Gain weight
but I think really goes more like this:
1. You eat a so-called "balanced" diet (aka high-carb diet)
2. Pancreas secretes insulin, blood insulin spikes
3. Insulin tells body cells to go into 'store energy for later' mode, not 'burn energy for now' mode, lowering your 'available energy'
4. Brain tells body to get off couch and go exercise
5. Body tells brain "urg I don't have enough energy for that, sorry, because the insulin is telling us to store energy for later not burn it now"
6. Conscious brain is like, 'why can't I get up, I must be a bad lazy person'
Lobster at July 5, 2014 8:57 AM
Why is American food often awful? The biggest reason is industrial food. Take chocolate, for example: the candy industry has managed to get the labelling requirements so relaxed that a chocolate bar need only contain 10% chocolate - the rest can be sugar and other crap. With simple word games, they can eliminate the restrictions almost entirely: "made with genuine chocolate" means that there is a non-zero amount of chocolate, but it could well be a fraction of a percent.
Buy local, patronize local specialty businesses. Eat genuine food...
a_random_guy at July 5, 2014 9:05 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/05/celebrating_fre.html#comment-4821167">comment from a_random_guyTake chocolate, for example: the candy industry has managed to get the labelling requirements so relaxed that a chocolate bar need only contain 10% chocolate
I don't eat that kind of chocolate.
And a chocolatier is opening near me. Woohoo!
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2014 9:31 AM
But I'll bet you a nickel all those county governments thought Howard's scheme was a great idea, and will try to be even "healthier" than the scolds in Ellicott City were.
--
Carroll is predominantly rural and small town; Frederick is not, but it's a small-city metropolitan county and more provincial, so fewer pests. Prince George's and Baltimore City are predominantly black as are their politicians; I suspect these sorts of food fixations are fairly unusual among all strata of black society. Anne Arundel is comparatively Republican and long has been (it's 50-50), so chances are lower. Your surmise is most likely for Montgomery County, which is upscale and has a long history of this sort of officious tripe (including an attempt at a ban on smoking in rental housing).
Art Deco at July 5, 2014 11:19 AM
If the Founding Fathers were alive today, they would dump Coke into the Potomac to protest.
Walter Moore at July 5, 2014 11:44 AM
"Montgomery, and Prince George's."
Back when I was traveling to D.C. a lot, Prince George's County was notorious for being the county with the highest hotel rates in the nation, and Montgomery County was second. I did a lot of work at Goddard Space Flight Center which is in Greenbelt, but I often had to stay in Arlington and drive around the damn Beltway every morning becuase our per diem wouldn't pay for a halfway decent room in Greenbelt or New Carrolton.
Cousin Dave at July 7, 2014 7:17 AM
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