California is now trying to out-Bloomberg the rest of the nation with a newly proposed bill that requires half of the food sold from vending machines to meet nutritional guidelines by the beginning of 2015. By 2016, it would grow to 75%, then the next year be basically 100% free of Hot Cheetoes and Brawndo-The Thirst Mutilator. The L.A. Times reports that Assembly Bill 459, set to go before California’s Committee on Appropriations today, would apply the new rules to state office buildings and government property, including State-sponsored schools. Acceptable foodstuffs replacing the mass-produced garbage include such terribly unpopular snack choices as water, low-fat milk, vegetables, and fruit, as well as lower sodium snacks with less than 200 calories.
Naturally, this has snack and soda lobbyists our self-elected defenders of freedom and liberty hopping mad about “nanny state” tactics and the inevitable enslavement of us all, no matter how hard supporters of the bill try to convince them they have everyone’s economic interests at heart.
Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy backs the bill, offering the explanation that, “We’re in the middle of a very costly obesity epidemic. It is unreasonable to expect California taxpayers to be footing the bill for skyrocketing healthcare costs for workers who end up with diabetes and heart disease when the state itself is contributing to those problems.”
The alarmists, if they were actually rational people, also might be placated by the fact that no matter which laws actually pass banning junk food on state properties, they’ll still retain the personal freedom to bring whatever crappy snack foods they crave into California-controlled premises. For now! Muahahaha…
Bill would ban junk food from vending machines at state offices [LAT]
Earlier: City Councilman Makes L.A. Feel Special With Our Own Little Soda Ban [GS]
