Work-It Wednesday: Christine Quinn’s Mac Attack Bann

The great thing about fast-food is that it’s quick, inexpensive and you can “have it your way.”  Well, at least for the time being.

With the obesity epidemic at an all-time high, New York City Council President Christine Quinn is aiming her sights on changing the city’s zoning laws to help minimize the number of fast-food joints in neighborhoods with high obesity rates; a.k.a. poor neighborhoods.

While it would seem that Ms. Quinn is trying to take a proactive approach to curbing fast-food-related obesity, she is overlooking two very important factors.  For starters, residents in these areas depend on these companies for jobs to help support their families.  Second, banning fast food isn’t addressing the larger issue.

If you think about it, there is a very good reason for the correlation between neighborhoods with high obesity rates and low income residents.  With the way the food industry is setup, it is cheaper to feed a family junk food than fresh produce.

For instance, you can walk into almost any grocery or retail store and get two large bags of cookies for about five dollars.  Take the same five dollars to the fruit aisle and you’ll be lucky to come out with a small bag of apples.  When you’re trying to feed a family, it’s not always about getting the right food into their mouths, but more important that they are getting enough so that they’re not hungry.  It’s as simple as that.

So sure, you can ban fast-food in these neighborhoods Ms. Quinn, but until we make reform in our food system, you’re only skimming the surface on a much larger issue.

What are your thoughts?  Do you agree with Ms. Quinn?

Photo Credit: whatyoureallyget.com