Typical MoCo big govt overreach/over regulation - bill to control restaurant menus for kids

[Anonymous]

Marc Elrich wants to lecture your kids about healthy eating? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP... Complaining about a healthy food option being made available for kids has got to be one of the stupidest right wing freakouts I've seen all week.

But hey, you do you.

Moderate Democrat here. This is simply a silly law that simply was not needed. Just because some idiot (who likely has never had a real job) came up with idea does not make it a good one. I suspect 90% of the MC restaurants satisfy the standard. A solution, as noted above, looking for a problem.

More like 90% of restaurants only have some generic Sysco junk food items like breaded fried chicken nuggets and french fries as their kids menu item.

What there a real problem here? What evidence?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP... Complaining about a healthy food option being made available for kids has got to be one of the stupidest right wing freakouts I've seen all week.

But hey, you do you.

No one is complaining about making healthy options available for kids. They are saying that this puts an unfair burden on restaurants, especially small ones, which will have to make sure they have additional ingredients on hand at all times, perhaps on the off chance they get kids in.

As someone else pointed out, the solution to childhood obesity is educational programs for parents and kids. I’d be willing to bet that most obese kids aren’t eating in the restaurants on which this burden will fall. Their parents need to solve this problem.

Personally, I’m tired of government decisions that continue to lower expectations of parents and shift the obligations of raising kids to others (schools, mostly, and now restaurants).

[Anonymous]

I can understand what this regulation looks like at fast food restaurants (Burger King will provide a fruit option instead of fries) but what does it look like at real restaurants? Like if I take my kid to an Indian restaurant, do they have to add some weird/random item to their menu to satisfy the requirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP... Complaining about a healthy food option being made available for kids has got to be one of the stupidest right wing freakouts I've seen all week.

But hey, you do you.

Moderate Democrat here. This is simply a silly law that simply was not needed. Just because some idiot (who likely has never had a real job) came up with idea does not make it a good one. I suspect 90% of the MC restaurants satisfy the standard. A solution, as noted above, looking for a problem.

More like 90% of restaurants only have some generic Sysco junk food items like breaded fried chicken nuggets and french fries as their kids menu item.

What there a real problem here? What evidence?

Is there a real problem with breaded fried chicken nuggets and french fries as the typical option on the menu for kids? Are you for real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can understand what this regulation looks like at fast food restaurants (Burger King will provide a fruit option instead of fries) but what does it look like at real restaurants? Like if I take my kid to an Indian restaurant, do they have to add some weird/random item to their menu to satisfy the requirement?

LMAO! Are you completely clueless? Any Indian restaurant is extremely likely to have a huge variety of healthy dishes made in-house, that are full of vegetables and low on fried/high-carb/processed/preservative-laden foods on its menu!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP... Complaining about a healthy food option being made available for kids has got to be one of the stupidest right wing freakouts I've seen all week.

But hey, you do you.

No one is complaining about making healthy options available for kids. They are saying that this puts an unfair burden on restaurants, especially small ones, which will have to make sure they have additional ingredients on hand at all times, perhaps on the off chance they get kids in.

As someone else pointed out, the solution to childhood obesity is educational programs for parents and kids. I’d be willing to bet that most obese kids aren’t eating in the restaurants on which this burden will fall. Their parents need to solve this problem.

Personally, I’m tired of government decisions that continue to lower expectations of parents and shift the obligations of raising kids to others (schools, mostly, and now restaurants).

Yeah, they are complaining about healthy options for kids. And, any competent chef should have absolutely no problem being able to provide healthy options for kids as part of their regular ingredients. Any restaurant that has an issue with this is not really a competent restaurant - they are the stuff of nightmares, the kind of place that just reheats frozen crap. While I hate Gordon Ramsay he's exposed quite a few of those kinds of places. They have no business even being in business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP... Complaining about a healthy food option being made available for kids has got to be one of the stupidest right wing freakouts I've seen all week.

But hey, you do you.

No one is complaining about making healthy options available for kids. They are saying that this puts an unfair burden on restaurants, especially small ones, which will have to make sure they have additional ingredients on hand at all times, perhaps on the off chance they get kids in.

As someone else pointed out, the solution to childhood obesity is educational programs for parents and kids. I’d be willing to bet that most obese kids aren’t eating in the restaurants on which this burden will fall. Their parents need to solve this problem.

Personally, I’m tired of government decisions that continue to lower expectations of parents and shift the obligations of raising kids to others (schools, mostly, and now restaurants).

Do parents have to anticipate every possible thing, they cannot travel without having to pack multiple healthy meals for their kids, because restaurants cannot be relied on to provide healthy food? You're tired? I'm tired of corporate restaurant garbage. Take a seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This bill seems kind of unnecessary to me. Are parents really taking their kids out to restaurants and just getting them a plate of chicken nuggets and fries? Sad. We eat healthfully at home (mostly Mediterranean diet with lots of vegetables) and when we eat out, it's usually East Asian or Indian food. Before my child could read, I wouldn't even tell her there was a kids menu. I just described a few dishes I thought she'd like and let her choose.

If parents are really just taking their kids out and getting them a cheeseburger because they can't be bothered to expand their children's palates, I doubt they're going to pick the healthy option anyway.

You’re kidding, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it passed.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-council-approves-bill-requiring-healthy-meal-options-for-children/

In the 8-1 vote in favor of the bill, County Council Member Andrew Friedson was the only one opposed. He unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller restaurants.

This is insane. How does a ramen shop comply? Or a pupuseria? And why should they have to?

They don’t. This legislation is so stupid. Kudos to Andrew Friedson for his sanity. The solution is for restaurants to no longer offer any children’s menu to avoid having some unappealing meal on hand that no one orders. Congratulations County Council. You’ve just eliminated reasonably priced kids meals for families who rely on them to feed their children. Good grief.

If a family is “relying (on restaurant kid meals) to feed their children,” they’re doing it wrong. Go to the grocery store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This bill seems kind of unnecessary to me. Are parents really taking their kids out to restaurants and just getting them a plate of chicken nuggets and fries? Sad. We eat healthfully at home (mostly Mediterranean diet with lots of vegetables) and when we eat out, it's usually East Asian or Indian food. Before my child could read, I wouldn't even tell her there was a kids menu. I just described a few dishes I thought she'd like and let her choose.

If parents are really just taking their kids out and getting them a cheeseburger because they can't be bothered to expand their children's palates, I doubt they're going to pick the healthy option anyway.

You’re kidding, right?

You should see the crap half of these parents send their kids to school with - a couple of cold left-over chicken nuggets and some purple drank. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it passed.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-council-approves-bill-requiring-healthy-meal-options-for-children/

In the 8-1 vote in favor of the bill, County Council Member Andrew Friedson was the only one opposed. He unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller restaurants.

This is insane. How does a ramen shop comply? Or a pupuseria? And why should they have to?

They don’t. This legislation is so stupid. Kudos to Andrew Friedson for his sanity. The solution is for restaurants to no longer offer any children’s menu to avoid having some unappealing meal on hand that no one orders. Congratulations County Council. You’ve just eliminated reasonably priced kids meals for families who rely on them to feed their children. Good grief.

If a family is “relying (on restaurant kid meals) to feed their children,” they’re doing it wrong. Go to the grocery store.

What is the point of even having restaurants if you can't even count on them for a healthy, nutritious meal? FAIL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it passed.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-council-approves-bill-requiring-healthy-meal-options-for-children/

In the 8-1 vote in favor of the bill, County Council Member Andrew Friedson was the only one opposed. He unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller restaurants.

This is insane. How does a ramen shop comply? Or a pupuseria? And why should they have to?

They don’t. This legislation is so stupid. Kudos to Andrew Friedson for his sanity. The solution is for restaurants to no longer offer any children’s menu to avoid having some unappealing meal on hand that no one orders. Congratulations County Council. You’ve just eliminated reasonably priced kids meals for families who rely on them to feed their children. Good grief.

If a family is “relying (on restaurant kid meals) to feed their children,” they’re doing it wrong. Go to the grocery store.

What is the point of even having restaurants if you can't even count on them for a healthy, nutritious meal? FAIL

The point is to enjoy a meal that you like. I happen to like vegetables and wish restaurants would serve more of them, but unfortunately people don't eat them so it ends up going to waste. Restaurants are not the problem - we need better public education around nutrition. I had never heard of the plate rule (half your plate should be non starchy vegetables) until last year. The government should be engaging in a massive campaign to inform the public about that instead of forcing restaurants to buy and offer food that they can't force people to eat. But that's the MoCo Council's MO - put a bunch of burdensome requirements on small businesses so they don't actually have to make hard decisions about how to spend tax dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it passed.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-council-approves-bill-requiring-healthy-meal-options-for-children/

In the 8-1 vote in favor of the bill, County Council Member Andrew Friedson was the only one opposed. He unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller restaurants.

This is insane. How does a ramen shop comply? Or a pupuseria? And why should they have to?

They don’t. This legislation is so stupid. Kudos to Andrew Friedson for his sanity. The solution is for restaurants to no longer offer any children’s menu to avoid having some unappealing meal on hand that no one orders. Congratulations County Council. You’ve just eliminated reasonably priced kids meals for families who rely on them to feed their children. Good grief.

If a family is “relying (on restaurant kid meals) to feed their children,” they’re doing it wrong. Go to the grocery store.

What is the point of even having restaurants if you can't even count on them for a healthy, nutritious meal? FAIL

The point is to enjoy a meal that you like. I happen to like vegetables and wish restaurants would serve more of them, but unfortunately people don't eat them so it ends up going to waste. Restaurants are not the problem - we need better public education around nutrition. I had never heard of the plate rule (half your plate should be non starchy vegetables) until last year. The government should be engaging in a massive campaign to inform the public about that instead of forcing restaurants to buy and offer food that they can't force people to eat. But that's the MoCo Council's MO - put a bunch of burdensome requirements on small businesses so they don't actually have to make hard decisions about how to spend tax dollars.

There are plenty of people who want restaurants to have a healthy offering. You have not made a legitimate case to show that it would just go to waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it passed.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-council-approves-bill-requiring-healthy-meal-options-for-children/

In the 8-1 vote in favor of the bill, County Council Member Andrew Friedson was the only one opposed. He unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to exempt smaller restaurants.

This is insane. How does a ramen shop comply? Or a pupuseria? And why should they have to?

They don’t. This legislation is so stupid. Kudos to Andrew Friedson for his sanity. The solution is for restaurants to no longer offer any children’s menu to avoid having some unappealing meal on hand that no one orders. Congratulations County Council. You’ve just eliminated reasonably priced kids meals for families who rely on them to feed their children. Good grief.

If a family is “relying (on restaurant kid meals) to feed their children,” they’re doing it wrong. Go to the grocery store.

What is the point of even having restaurants if you can't even count on them for a healthy, nutritious meal? FAIL

The point is to enjoy a meal that you like. I happen to like vegetables and wish restaurants would serve more of them, but unfortunately people don't eat them so it ends up going to waste. Restaurants are not the problem - we need better public education around nutrition. I had never heard of the plate rule (half your plate should be non starchy vegetables) until last year. The government should be engaging in a massive campaign to inform the public about that instead of forcing restaurants to buy and offer food that they can't force people to eat. But that's the MoCo Council's MO - put a bunch of burdensome requirements on small businesses so they don't actually have to make hard decisions about how to spend tax dollars.

There are plenty of people who want restaurants to have a healthy offering. You have not made a legitimate case to show that it would just go to waste.

Then it sounds like there is a market for more health oriented restaurants. Why don't you go start one and see how it goes? Let us know how helpful MoCo's rules are in doing so.