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Food Freedom Champion: Miss Oklahoma

Published at: 10:01 am - Friday January 20 2012

On Saturday night, Miss America 2012 was crowned in Las Vegas, NV. In front of the largest audience since 2004, a new champion for food freedom emerged: Miss Oklahoma. In the final round on stage Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson, was asked, “Does the government have any responsibility for telling parents what their children should eat?” Without hesitation, Thompson replied,

“I believe that parents should be the ones who are teaching their children how to eat and then it wouldn’t be the government’s responsibility to step in.”

It’s clear she understands the detrimental effects of government controlling what we eat and eliminating our ability to make our own food choices. Miss Oklahoma may have been named the Miss America 2012 runner-up, but in our minds she’s the real winner!

Read more about Miss Oklahoma and the Miss America pageant here.

Tell us what you think. Did you watch the Miss America pageant? Were you surprised at Miss Oklahoma’s answer? Share your thoughts on Facebook.

Posted in: Big Government, Kids, News, Parents by admin No Comments consumer freedom, parents

Chick-fil-A Caves Under the Pressure of the Food Police

Published at: 10:01 am - Friday January 13 2012

Another fast food chain has succumbed to the government’s pressure to dictate what we eat. Explaining it as adding “healthier options,” Chick-fil-A is making significant changes to its menu that wreak of Food Police influence.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chick-fil-A will eliminate Hi-C from its children’s beverage line, add applesauce to the kids meal, and is “working to reduce salt in its regular menu, including a 40 percent cut in its Chargrilled Chicken filet, 25 percent in breads and 10 percent in dressings and sauces. Chick-fil-A also has removed high fructose corn syrup from its chocolate milk as well as some salad dressings and sauces.”

While the company claims in a USA Today article that this decision was not influenced by the government’s crackdown on restaurants and food companies, the timing and changes suggest otherwise.

“Fast-food chains have been eager to show they’re concerned about kids’ health. First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity has given fuel to those who blame the industry for kids’ health-related problems.

New regulations from the health care overhaul will require many restaurants to post nutrition information on their menus. And federal agencies are considering whether to curb companies from advertising unhealthy food to kids.

Baldwin [company spokesman] said that Chick-fil-A’s move wasn’t related to any of the impending regulations.”

Restaurants changing or altering their menus based upon consumer preferences is completely understandable and crucial to surviving in this economy; however, it appears as though the pressure may be coming from other sources as other eateries and food manufacturers fall into line with the regulations. In fact, this change comes at a time when Chick-fil-A leads the industry in the highest average sales per store, beating out competition like McDonald’s and Dairy Queen. Clearly the consumers are happy with the current offerings.

In the end, it’s unfortunate that such changes are based upon faulty science. Despite changing its menu to ‘help parents’, Chick-fil-A may get the opposite response it was hoping for. History has shown product changes in salt content have been met with decreased consumer satisfaction as lowering the salt content alters taste and can even increase the overall calories consumed.

Tell us what you think! Do you think Chick-fil-A’s actions are appropriate? Are their moves the result of consumer preference or government pressure? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook.

Posted in: Food Police, Kids, News, Parents by admin No Comments chick-fil-a, happy meal, kids, restaurants

Chefs, Experts Agree: Government Sodium Reduction ‘Misguided’

Published at: 09:01 am - Friday January 06 2012

As we ring in the new year, we’re reminded of the numerous attempts by the Food Police (a.k.a. the government) to pass baseless public health policies limiting salt usage in restaurants in 2011. But according to chefs and experts alike, these efforts to control what we consume may be misguided.

An article in The Atlantic by cardiologist and chef Michael Fenster reads, “This mandate might be debatable if the evidence between current amounts of sodium consumption and an increased risk of morbidity and mortality was incontrovertible. It is not. It remains at present inconclusive.”

The article continues “The assumption is…made that by reducing dietary sodium we will reduce hypertension and thus reduce these untoward effects. This has not been demonstrably or conclusively shown, but it makes for great slogans, off the cuff advice, and lazy recommendations. It also makes for poor publicly mandated policy.”

Continue reading at The Atlantic.

Fenster is not the only one talking about the lack of true science in the war on salt. Hear what other chefs and experts have to say:

For more information on the numerous studies published in peer-reviewed journals in 2011 concerning the health benefits of salt or the significant risk of a low sodium diet, check out this article in the Brighton Pittsford Post.

Your input is needed! If you don’t want the federal government to dictate how your food tastes, submit an official comment to the Federal Register against population-wide sodium reduction today!

Posted in: News, Salt, Science by admin 2 Comments food police, Salt, salt reduction, sodium reduction, war on salt

New Government-Approved School Lunches a ‘Disaster’

Published at: 09:12 am - Wednesday December 21 2011

Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are quickly rejecting the newly imposed school lunch menus that included such items as black bean burgers, tostada salad, and fresh pears. The “healthy” lunch fare which complies with the USDA’s updated version of the Dietary Guidelines of America — represented now by a plate instead of a pyramid — was suggested by the Food Police to be the solution to all of society’s health problems.

But according to the Los Angeles Times, “There’s just one problem: Many of the meals are being rejected en masse. Participation in the school lunch program has dropped by thousands of students. Principals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away. Students are ditching lunch, and some say they’re suffering from headaches, stomach pains and even anemia. At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving.”

So the school district is reversing course and reintroducing student favorites:

“Acknowledging the complaints, L.A. Unified’s food services director, Dennis Barrett, announced this month that the menu would be revised. Hamburgers will be offered daily. Some of the more exotic dishes are out, including the beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads. And the Caribbean meatball sauce will be changed to the more familiar teriyaki flavor.”

Tell us what you think. If a lunch program based on the Dietary Guidelines is a flop with students, shouldn’t we question any further use of these government recommendations? Post your opinion on Facebook.

Posted in: Dietary Guidelines, News, Obesity, School Lunches by admin No Comments big government, dietary guidelines, food police, los angeles unified school district, my plate, nanny state, school lunch

Food Police Toy Ban Fails in San Francisco

Published at: 12:12 pm - Thursday December 08 2011

After the city passed a law banning the toy as a free give-away, McDonald’s figured out how to comply with the law but still offer the toys so many Americans have grown to love.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Scott Rodrick, who owns 10 of the 19 McDonald’s franchises in San Francisco, said charging 10 cents for the toy is “complying with the letter of the law” while also providing “what our customers want.”

…

The law impacts not just McDonald’s, but also others including Subway, Carl’s Jr. and Burger King, which have offered free incentives in their kid’s meals in the past.

Soon after McDonald’s made this announcement, Burger King followed suit:

“Toys will be available for purchase for 10 cents more,” Kristen Hauser, a spokeswoman for Burger King, said Wednesday…Burger King has not decided what to do with the toy proceeds, Hauser said.

Tell us what you think. Will you pay 10 cents for the toy? Are you surprised businesses found a way around the absurd ban? Share you thoughts with us on Facebook.

Posted in: California, News, Toy Ban by admin 1 Comment burger king, eric mar, food police, mcdonald's, san francisco, toy ban

Congress saves kids from becoming guinea pigs [FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

Published at: 10:11 am - Wednesday November 16 2011

“Congress has rightly blocked the introduction of experimental school lunch standards developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would have radically altered menus in cafeterias. Our nation’s children would have been automatically treated as guinea pigs in a national experiment,” says Orit Sklar, national spokeswoman for the grassroots coalition My Food. My Choice!.

“The thought that government would force children into a diet that has not been proven and could have serious health consequences is unconscionable. Given the plethora of studies and experts refuting and questioning the USDA’s standards, the only choice Congress had was to alter and in the case of sodium, seek further information. The fact that the USDA would continue to push for sodium reduction in light of recent evidence showing salt reduction can actually have negative effects is troubling. Congress is correct in their legislation to require further study on the effects of long-term sodium reduction.”

• Cutting down on salt may not reduce disease, analysis concludes [Washington Post - 11/9/2011]

• It’s Time to End the War on Salt [Scientific American - 7/8/2011]

• Video: Experts call salt reduction plans one big experiment: http://youtu.be/_5whW9B2sxQ

“The Food Police lobby may be loud and obnoxious in their criticism, but they have failed to produce a shred of real evidence to justify enacting such draconian measures on adults, and especially our children. This decision is a momentary victory for food freedom. But, the USDA will continue to hear from Americans concerned about their overreach into our diets. For weeks, My Food. My Choice! has been encouraging Americans to submit an official comment to the Federal Register on sodium reduction. It’s not the government’s job to dictate how our food tastes.”

Comments can be submitted online by going to: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FSIS-2011-0014-0001. The deadline is November 29, 2011.

My Food. My Choice! is the citizen-led counterweight to local and national government bullies who’ve decided that the path to unlimited power is through our stomachs.

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For media interviews contact Orit Sklar: (404) 931-652 or orit@myfoodmychoice.org

Posted in: Press Releases by admin No Comments

Food Freedom Champion: Miss Oklahoma

Chick-fil-A Caves Under the Pressure of the Food Police

Chefs, Experts Agree: Government Sodium Reduction ‘Misguided’

New Government-Approved School Lunches a ‘Disaster’

Food Police Toy Ban Fails in San Francisco

Congress saves kids from becoming guinea pigs [FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

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