Let’s face it, when you go to a buffet you can over eat – as a matter of fact you’re encouraged to! Just take a look at this sign from a local buffet (one I just overate at) reminding you to “Keep eating, There’s WAY more where that came from“. The waitress was no help, she was continually asking to take away our plates so we could get more. To top it off she kept refilling our dangerous fountain sodas (full of high-fructose corn syrup) so we wouldn’t have to get up and stop consuming! Totally irresponsible.
Our federal, state, and maybe local governments need to take some action. Clearly people who eat here regularly, and follow this type of guidance, will become unhealthy. I noticed a very high number of overweight people compared to similar restaurants that aren’t “buffet style”. I’m sure there is some left-over stimulus money or federal grants available to do a study of the obvious here. It’s quite possible overeating leads to obesity and we know obesity leads to many other illnesses. With cities banning all types of unhealthy fats, schools mandating what foods kids bring in their lunch sacks, and new regulations to force that local “Ma and Pa” deli’s to cough up nutritional menus I think this is a good fit for the a little “Nanny State” action!
Maybe I’m jumping the gun and we just need to raise awareness. I’m sure the media would love to do some serious investigative journalism here. Potentially we can get Morgan Spurlock, director and actor in “Super Size Me”, to consider a new film where he eats daily at a buffet until they stop taking his plate away? Well that might be too dangerous to Mr. Spurlock, he barely survived filming his last “documentary”.
Since the government provides or subsidizes healthcare for many Americans, and you pay for that with your taxes, it’s in our national interest to take action. I’ve got some decent ideas of how regulation of these dangerous buffets could improve the quality of American lives:
One Trip Only. It’s fine to give people buffet options, but when they can keep going back … they might, and that could lead to long-term health problems. No more plate-refills.- Photographic Warnings. With cigarettes the government required manufacturers to show pictures of the effects of a life of smoking. Taking a page from that playbook, maybe the end of the line should have life sized pictures of naked overweight people? It’s for the good of society.
- Outlaw Buffets. Unfortunately, people will always think a buffet line means “eat all you want”. Weddings and parties both contain the same dangers. I mean think how hard it is for pastors to stay healthy doing all those wedding receptions with unlimited food!
- Enforce Food Pyramid. Require all buffet’s to have foods representative of the Federal food pyramid (now a plate with no dessert). The buffet lines should be separated by type and size in the pyramid.
- Taxes. Taxes are a great way to reduce things WE don’t like and push things WE do. All restaurants with proper nutritional information and government-portion-compliant will get a 50% reduction in taxes they need to collect. All non-compliant restaurants will have to collect a 25% tax.
Clearly it’s the government’s role to take care of all of us and they need to take action today! I’m going to call my senators and congressman right away. On second thought, it’s possible they might take all this seriously and further erode the ability for citizens to make their own decisions – good or bad. If you like any of these stupid ideas then please keep voting for politicians who feel like their role is to “fix society” instead of protecting our freedoms.
Somebody should create a site about these nanny-state-isms …coming soon….