Actually I planned to write about Los Angeles' slums. We had been in South East LA, but what we found out there is worth it to write an own article about. Maybe this is the start to a big story.
The LA council wants to ban fastfood restaurants of the South East area of Los Angeles.
I suppose many of the American readers will actually know that - but I can imagine, that none of the European reader ever heard about that.
The reason why the government decided unanimously, that for one year no new fastfood outlet will be opened, is the children obeseness, which is with 30% out of control.
You can read the full announcement at the LA Times website:
The South East of LA has got the most fastfood restaurants in comparison to other districts of the city. But why? Let me explain it with the words of a mother of five children: "If I bring the Kentucky Fried Chicken Special for my children to eat, they will have enough for dinner - and it is not more than 20 Dollars. If I'd buy meat and vegetables from the supermarket, it is of course healthier, but it is so expensive - we won't have anything to eat the next day."
Maria is 38 years old, her oldest son is 18 and her youngest kid is only three years old. We met her at a KFC restaurant, with her daughters. She was open-minded, when we asked her, why she is carrying big bags out of the KFC and not out of the supermarket. She laughed with her brown, angular face and said: "The next supermarket is far away. Nobody needs a supermarket in the neighborhood!"
And she was right, we searched for the next supermarket, drove through countless streets and finally found one. It wasn't inviting at all. Dirty, old plastic bags all over the parking lot, not much to offer in the inside - no comparison to the "Ralphs" supermarket at the Sunset Boulevard, with its endless vegetable and fruit shelves, 30 different kinds of water and hundrets of different sour cream pots. The cashier did not even lift his head when we had a (very) short look around.
Maria's point-of-view is clear: It's a matter of money - she barely cannot afford buying expensive fresh food in the supermarket. KFC, McDonald's and Carl's Junior is much cheaper for her. There is a reason, why Taco Bell and McDonald's have those "under-3-Dollar-meals".
What the politician's point-of-view is, must be explained: Many children are obese in the USA. They suffer from diseases, they normally would become in a higher age: high blood-pressure, breathlessness, fatty degeneration of the heart and backache.
This diseases will (and they do right now) cost the government a lot - that's why they want to put forward and promote national programs for corpulent, obese children: Fat Camps, sports programs at school and education about healthy food.
Now they take a step, which is far bigger. No new fastfood restaurants in poor districts of LA to stop the fastfood flood.
Let's put this a little more forward: I think, this is only the beginning of a strategical closing of every fastfood restaurant in those districts. What happens to the food industry, if the government declares them, to be the reason for the health problems of millions of Americans? Will the government, all in all, win or lose?
What is the heavier weight: The costs for sick citizens or the impact of the fastfood brache on to the American industry?
It is really not the right way to deal with the all-american issue of a healthy nutrition.
What do the candidates for the Presidential election say about that topic? I will find out and write about it at this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment