Comments on: C.S. Lewis and the food police

By: DEM

DEM — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:52:01 +0000

As the parent of a 7 year old boy I know there is no chance of instilling in him the “backbone” to resist a treat. But the treat is not a problem worth resisting. Instead I have the backbone to allow my son to burn off all that energy through vigorous play — in other words, to permit his indulgence in both pleasures. Many modern parents seem to believe that the only suitable option is the reverse, i.e., having denied the play, then must also deny the treat.

By: Bettina at The Lunch Tray

Bettina at The Lunch Tray — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:23:17 +0000

A reader of The Lunch Tray (perhaps finding me through Overlawyered) has argued forcefully that it’s not the school’s job to ban in-class treats, it’s my job as a parent to instill in my children the “backbone” to resist. As I’m guessing this is a view commonly held by most readers of this blog, I’m sharing my exchange with this reader (now its own post) here: http://www.thelunchtray.com/in-class-birthday-treats-a-reader-says-my-kids-just-need-the-backbone-to-resist/

By: Bettina at The Lunch Tray

Bettina at The Lunch Tray — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:14:41 +0000

I’ve been quite interested to read these comments, as well as the over 70 that have come in to date on the original post over at The Lunch Tray. I won’t belabor my points here – you can head over to TLT if you want join in the debate, where some readers sharing the views espoused here continue to take me on. But I did want to let you know that on TLT’s Facebook fan page there’s now a movement afoot to get t-shirts printed up bearing the words “Omnipotent Moral Busybody.”

By: Jay Markowitz

Jay Markowitz — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:11:31 +0000

It’s more than just wanting a ‘tasty’ meal, crap food is just cheaper. I have been diagnosed with celiac, along with such acute lactose intolerance, it should be called lactose racism. Since 90% of cheap, junk food includes wheat or dairy, I have seen my food bills go up as a result. It takes twice as much ‘healthy’ food sometimes to achieve that same level of ‘full’ I used to get from splitting a pepperoni pizza with cheese, with enough left over for a cold slice or two for breakfast.

By: boblipton

boblipton — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:06:56 +0000

I think that’s a fine thing, Slugger and I think a lot of parents would find it a good thing. Assuming the other points of the school were up to snuff, it would be a fine selling point.

Mandating it for everything is wrong. Education is admirable. Good choices are excellent. It is, however, a matter of choice.

Bob

By: Slugger

Slugger — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:11:58 +0000

I am not involved in education, but if I were to start a school, a private hard emphasis on classic fundamentals and discipline type of place, I would certainly exclude junk food vendors. I would point this out prominently in my brochure.
Would any of you allow high sucrose, low nutrient foods in a school that you would design?
I am animated not only by the nutritional problems with sucrose but also by the way its producers have long used the government in the form of agricultural production quotas and embargos against lower cost extranational producers.
You can’t fight every battle. This Dulcinea is not what you think.

By: Ron Miler

Ron Miler — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:24:28 +0000

Not control. We are talking about encourage. I’ve already said in my first comment that this should not be a law.

Richard, even smart people can use reinforcement. The idea that we can trust juries and we should encourage people to eat well are not mutually exclusive concepts.

L.C., again, encourage. I’m not with the government. If they get carried away, that’s not on me. We are talking policy here. I appreciate your larger point., tho. Government should not thin slice the encouragement. Carrots good. Candy bad. This advice is not going to go out of style.

Long before Obamacare, our business was paying for our employees’ health insurance as were the vast majority of American businesses.

You can drive a truck through the difference, folks.

By: antiredistributionist

antiredistributionist — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:13:44 +0000

Note the trap inherent in Mr. Miller’s 12:06 comment – the businessman (or government) chooses to provide health care benefits, then uses that as the justification for restricting individual freedoms.

By: L. C. Burgundy

L. C. Burgundy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:57:04 +0000

That’s a strawman, Ron. The government is not content to encourage. I grew up in the era (in the not too distant past) that the government encouraged us all to engage in very high carbohydrate intake (11 servings a day!) and substitute vegetable fats (i.e., partially hydrogenated trans fats) instead of just eating meat and animal fats, which, in retrospect, was probably regrettable advice. Pardon me for not feeling encouraged about the government’s next great experiment on the citizenry.

By: Richard Nieporent

Richard Nieporent — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Ron, what other activities do you thing the Federal Government should control for our own good? How about compulsory exercise in from of our two-way TV? For someone who claims that juries get it right, you seem to have a lot of disdain for the common man.