America's Obesity Epidemic and Possible Solutions

[Boris Johnson]

Ok sazari, then granted for most of that. I certainly don't think what your proposing about reforming the food industry in effect is impossible. Just extreme. I'm also not entirely sold that people are going to behave in a way about something like high caloric food. Especially when the range is so diverse and the market really diversely 'tiered' into lots of small, medium and large distributors. But lets leave that aside of the moment.

Anyway, Yes, I know about class actions. My point was more, what your suggesting requires a large amount of judges to set precedent by massively, massively expanding liability. So:

1) Why do you think they'd agree to do that, and judge shopping doesn't really explain all of that.
2) Given one is there not worry that it sets a precedent with tort law, if your going to throw the individual responsibility thing out with food, what's to stop the baby going with the bathwater and making harm the most abstract and near universally applicable legal concept? I mean what if tires are not suspensions are not made perfectly in a model of cars and they cause bad backs out on country roads, is the entire of the rural U.S then at liberty to sue the car market into extinction? From a legal standpoint, you might actually be pushing the thin end of a massive wedge here.

Or am I wrong in thinking judges can be somewhat conservative when setting massive precedents?

[Sazari]

[cool_chick]

[Ozzone]

[Sazari]

[The Dharma Bum]

[Thundertaker]

I'll tell you what the main problem is, its the fact that American foods are pumped full of high-fructose corn syrup, which is much more fattening than the cane sugar used as an additive in most processed foods outside of North America and as is others have mentioned, heavily subsidised and cheap, and the big food lobby prevents any substantial action being taken to rectify the issue, probably on the grounds that trying to stop private enterprise from having the freedom to pump their products full of shite is a commie assault on America's freedom or some such bollocks.

Of course, a large part of it is also about personal responsibility, and people wouldn't be fat if they weren't ill-disciplined in their eating and excercise habits. So a two-pronged attack is needed. First, stop subsidising high-fructose corn syrup production (or at least restrict its use as a food additive) and get people to eat healthy and excercise more, possibly by taunting fatties, poking them with sticks, and lowering their self-esteem until they hit rock-bottom and decide to do something about it . Unfortunately, as the obese are apparently starting to become the majority in the states, its probably becoming more likely that healthy-weighted people will be the targets of bullying and exclusion by disgusting fatbodies like Private Pyle...

[Sazari]

America: the country that adopts the idea of personal responsibility more than any other developed nation
America: the fattest country on the planet.

Coincidence...or correlation?

[Spider]

[PoS]

But but if we ban corn syrup how am I gonna buy and eat pecan pie?