nosh nook #28 - wednesday, april 22, 2009

fast food police: caribbean takeaway closed down for opening too close to schools (link)
04.21.09 - the daily mail - by dan newling

a proposal to separate fast food and schools (link)
04.21.09 - the ny times - by cara buckley

europeans are always way ahead of us in everything--fashion, the arts, abolishing slavery, etc. once again, they've beat us to the punch, this time in the u.k., in waltham forest, a borough in east london, where they've passed britain's first law that prohibits takeaways from selling fast food near schools. yesterday, the police moved in & shut down their first shop.

according to dan newling, "bamboo joint," a caribbean takeaway that opened just six weeks ago, was ordered by police to close the place down within three days.  the owner says that her place sells food that's "not even unhealthy. (they) sell jamaican-style rice and peas, and jerk chicken" and the "street is full of takeaways selling fish and chips and burgers," so she's not sure why she was targeted...because the local government's playing nanny...that's why.  sorry bout your livelihood, ma'am.

not to be outdone by our british counterparts, queens councilman eric gioia came up with a plan & this weekend, he put forth a proposal that would prohibit new fast-food restaurants from opening within a tenth of a mile from a school. sound familiar? who knows if gioia is even aware of the recently passed east london law?  either way, it's very coincidental.

as cara buckley reports, one thing he is aware of is a recently released study, "the effect of fast food restaurants on obesity," which linked students' obesity to the proximity of fast food joints to their schools. as such, he's proposing his ban along with "other tactics to fight childhood obesity, like easing access to food stamps, putting greenmarkets in poor neighborhoods and educating children about healthy eating." at least there's that last part in there about educating kids, because last i checked, we live in the u.s.a. & people should be able to open restaurants if they want to. ultimately, the root of the problem is not the existence of the fast-food restaurant. it's the consumer's lack of healthy eating habits & self-restraint. the nanny state stuff is for the birds.