The world according to Riff.

LA blocks new fast-food outlets from poor areas

LOS ANGELES - City officials are putting South Los Angeles on a diet

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place a moratorium on new fast food restaurants in an impoverished swath of the city with a proliferation of such eateries and above average rates of obesity.(OINK....but I bet if they put a liposuction clinic there ........lol)

The yearlong moratorium is intended to give the city time to attract restaurants that serve healthier food. The action, which the mayor must still sign into law, is believed to be the first of its kind by a major city to protect public health.(Bet it won't happen, too much money involved from the business end of things)

"Our communities have an extreme shortage of quality foods," City Councilman Bernard Parks said.(I don't Ive had some high quality fried chicken mashed potatoes gravy and large fries in my time    bwooohaha)

Representatives of fast-food chains said they support the goal of better diets but believe they are being unfairly targeted. They say they already offer healthier food items on their menus.(I feel, that if your dumb enough to eat that bad, you get what you deserve....I have overeaten in my past and now dieting and exercising to fix the problem, my poor choices, my consequence, my problem, my job to fix it)......"It's not where you eat, it's what you eat," said Andrew Puzder, president and chief executive of CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl's Jr. "We were willing to work with the city on that, but they obviously weren't interested."...(But of course, you can't put the blame on the people who are causing the problem you blame big bizzness)

The California Restaurant Association and its members will consider a legal challenge to the ordinance, spokesman Andrew Casana said.

Thirty percent of adults in South Los Angeles area are obese, compared to 19.1 percent for the metropolitan area and 14.1 percent for the affluent Westside, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.(Greater education more awareness, less poor choices....hmmmm...now how can that be?)

Research has shown that people will change eating habits when different foods are offered, but cost is a key factor in poor communities, said Kelly D. Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.(eat less move more, buy better quality food, eating healthy is more expensive but whats more costly, fresh spinach and lean fish or say ......diabetes, and high cholesterol and a heart attack with bypass....add it up people......)

"Cheap, unhealthy food and lack of access to healthy food is a recipe for obesity," Brownell said. "Diets improve when healthy food establishments enter these neighborhoods."

A report by the Community Health Councils found 73 percent of South Los Angeles restaurants were fast food, compared to 42 percent in West Los Angeles.

South Los Angeles resident Curtis English acknowledged that fast food is loaded with calories and cholesterol. But since he's unemployed and does not have a car, it serves as a cheap, convenient staple for him.(Ahhhhh, it's the "conveinent" aspect, and the "cheap" aspect thats the main motivator, never thought to eat less though, and yes I agree, Mickey D's and burger king ect....is crap food)

On Monday, he ate breakfast and lunch — a sausage burrito and double cheeseburger, respectively — at a McDonald's a few blocks from home for just $2.39.

"I don't think there's too many fast food places," he said. "People like it."(oink oink...I dont know why Im fat, I only eat 3,000 calories a meal, but it's so cheap...burp belch fart...)

Others welcomed an opportunity to get different kinds of food into their neighborhood.

"They should open more healthy places," Dorothy Meighan said outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. "There's too much fried stuff."(then go to the grocery store, and get a head of lettuce, some low cal dressing and a few fresh veggies to chop in it, and lay off the fried stuff.....but that would make too much sense)

Councilwoman Jan Perry said that view repeatedly surfaced at the five community meetings she held during the past two years. Residents are tired of fast food, and many don't have cars to drive to places with other choices, she said.(Free enterprise.....dont order tha bad stuff, only order the healthy stuff, the business there will supply the good stuff or go out of bizzness....new healthy stuff moves problem solved)

Los Angeles' ban comes at a time when governments of all levels are increasingly viewing menus as a matter of public health. On Friday, California became the first state in the nation to bar trans fats, which lower levels of good cholesterol and increase bad cholesterol.

The moratorium, which can be extended up to a year, only affects standalone restaurants, not eateries located in malls or strip shopping centers. It defines fast-food restaurants as those that do not offer table service and provide a limited menu of pre-prepared or quickly heated food in disposable wrapping.

The definition exempts "fast-food casual" restaurants such as El Pollo Loco, Subway and Pastagina, which do not have drive-through windows or heat lamps and prepare fresh food to order.

The ordinance also makes it harder for existing fast-food restaurants to expand or remodel.

Rebeca Torres, a South Los Angeles mother of four, said she would welcome more dining choices, even if she had to pay a little more. (see!...free enterprise)

"They should have better things for children," she said. "This fast food really fattens them up

Not to sound uncaring folks, but Me and my beloved are "Healthy" to put it tactfully....and we refuse to let out child get that way, she gets regular exercise, and we limit how much soda and other junk foods she gets, and make sure she has a well balenced diet.....end result, is a lean healthy, well nourished little girl, who doesn't have to worry about getting winded climbing a few stairs, or doesnt wonder how come she cant' fit into clothes...I hit the damn gym daily and do 2-3 miles on the cardio, and walk and have changed MY diet....I have lost 30 pounds, by eating more healthy.....so forgive me if I feel no pity for these orcas, whining "it's not my fault".....Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach him to fish feed him for a lifetime.........EDUCATION is the main need here, educate them, and let them make their own decisions, and then reap the fruits of their labor or suffer the consequences of their poor decisions