COMMENTING ON AN EVENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

COMMENTING ON AN EVENT - Essay Example For example, when the San Francisco Healthy Food Incentive Ordinance banned free toys to the customers on the purchase of Happy Meals, McDonald’s started to offer the toys with Happy Meals for an extra 10 cents only so that it adheres to the new law without having its sales impacted much by it. Summaries of Articles In the article â€Å"The Ban Too Far† published in The New York Times on 31 May 2012, the author has generally appreciated Bloomberg’s role in improving the health of the residents of the New York City, but does not approve of his recent attempt to ban the drinks sized over 16 ounces. The author has cited examples of several ways in which Bloomberg has helped the community e.g. the ban on smoking and trans fat in a lot of institutions, but as the name of the article suggests, the author considers the ban an unnecessarily strong action. The author believes that instead of placing such bans on the sizes of drinks or eatables, the administration should d irect its attention towards educating the community and providing them with healthier alternatives without restricting their access to the high-calorie food. According to the author, making tough campaigns and launching exercise programs are also recommendable, but banning something irritates the people.  In the article â€Å"Evolution’s Sweet Tooth† published in The New York Times on 5 June 2012, the author Daniel E. Lieberman says that the libertarian objections to Bloomberg’s ban on the sale of drinks sized above 16 ounces the most noticeable amongst others, that speculates that this ban will be succeeded by bans on the quantities of other kinds of junk foods. Declaring obesity as a biological problem, Lieberman thinks that Bloomberg’s decision is reasonable since such a coercive action is the need of the hour. Lieberman has drawn evidence in his support for Bloomberg from the way human eating habits have been modified by various external factors like advancement of technology. Scarcity of food sustained over millions of years in the past maintained a balance between the cravings for sugar and the human digestive systems. It is beyond the control of many to limit the intake of sugar since the craving for this once-limited-resource is simple tremendous in the present age when it is in abundance. Lieberman puts forth three basic options to deal with this issue. The first option is the discovery of cures for the diseases caused by obesity for which people might have to wait too long while being affected by the diseases. The second and the more popular option is the enhancement of public education about food and healthy eating habits, but this has not proven very effective so far. The third option requires restoration of diets to the natural state with the help of regulations as the times have changed and so has the human lifestyle. Imposing ban on large portions of drinks is just as sensible as banning cigarettes in schools or limi ting the access of children to alcohol. Bans are the ultimate solution as schools have proven ineffective in delivering physical education in the past. Along with imposing such bans, the food industry should honestly