Who Will Speak for the Plantains?This week’s clamorous public hearing over the nearly inevitable trans-fat ban was not the one-sided affair the mayor’s allies may have expected. Sure, there was a parade of experts saying that the trans-fat ban was the best thing that could happen to New York bloodstreams. And, as expected, a number of restaurant-industry types appeared to contest the ban, our health be damned. But one made a point close to our own hearts (so to speak). Luis Nunez, representing the 4,000 members of the Latino Restaurant Association, spoke out for the flavor of trans-fatty Latin foods. The city claims that all food will taste the same made without the good stuff, but Nunez wasn’t having any of it. “That’s what they’re saying,” he told Newsday. “Now show me the proof of studies they’ve done when it comes to ethnic food.” As we noted when the ban first appeared, it’s not the uptown swells who are going to miss the trans fats; it’s those of us who live on plantains, coco bread, and rellenos de papas. We hear you, Mr. Nunez. We hear you.
Chewing the Fat Over Ban [Newsday]
How Is a Trans Fat Like Rat Poo? (Answer: Not Much) [Daily Intelligencer]
Trans-Fat Ban: The Restaurants at Risk [Grub Street]