McDonald's Happy Meal Toy Law
In San Francisco on Tuesday, the Board Of Supervisors passed a law that basically says a restaurant cannot give out free toys unless the meal is healthy. As you know, I have enjoyed a fast food meal or two in my life and know that when I eat those meals they are not good for me. That being said, this law is ridiculous. I am all for halting childhood obesity because it is going to lead to long term health problems for a generation of kids and astronomical costs to take care of them. Despite my own predilections, I do not want the entire world to turn into the characters on Wall-E.
How is this law going to change that though? So McDonald's will sell the toys for a quarter instead of giving them away for free. I guess this means restaurants will no longer be able to provide coloring books and crayons to keep a child entertained because they are free. The free toys are not the problem. The problem is that at least in the United States we make bad food cheap and healthy food expensive. We make it so families all have to work a million jobs to survive and fast food is fast and cheap and will fill your bellies when parents do not have time or money to cook because they are just trying to survive.
The other option for parents is to simply tell your child, "no," when they want fast food. Yes, McDonald's spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year in advertising, but last time I checked, 6 year old kids were not driving themselves to the stores and buying the food. Parents are.
Now, as for laws about what your kids are eating at school and able to get from the vending machines? I am all for those laws because they actually work. If you give a child no alternative but healthy, they will eat healthy.
54 comments:
Yeah, I don't have a problem with this law.
I thought fresh food was cheaper? At least on Jamie's School Dinners it is.
I think parents, not McD's are responsible for kids. My 4 yo has never been inside a McD, she see's the ads, and has asked about it. We told her they sell food that is not healthy for your body. Yes, we are lucky that we can afford healthy food for her (although we work hard to be able to do so), but still, the point is you choose what to feed your kid.
And that isn't to say that we're super uptight. If our daughter eats her dinner, she gets a treat. Easy.
I have a problem with the huge subsidies given to agribusiness, which President Obama has done nothing about - in fact, his friendliness to agribusiness was one of the reasons he was able to win the votes of all those nice white farmers in Iowa, back in the 2008 primaries.
Federal subsidies for growing corn instead of healthier crops is one of the reasons so many cheap foods contain high-frutcose corn syrup.
The American diet won't change until Big Food changes, and that won't happen until the tax system does. George W. Bush, for all his many faults, tried to mess with the farm subsidy system after his re-election in 2004 and got nowhere. Lots of very powerful senators in low-population farm states - Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, etc.
I'm the single mother of a small child and the only way you can avoid processed Big Food is to make everything from scratch. Which, trust me, is a HUGE pain in the butt, but I do it anyway - mostly.
@Nutty_Flavour
My mom is/was a single mom too, and made everything for me from scratch. I absolutely adore her for it (and everything else) she did for me. You're in good company.
She even had me in cloth diapers! She's nuts!
Good lord, what has this country come to? This law is bullshit. How is it that the government can dictate what a company can and can't give away for free. Fuck off, San Francisco.
Listen, I haven't stepped foot inside a McDonald's in almost 15 years, but if you choose to eat there and subject your kids to their crap food, go for it. And if they want to give out crappy toys with their meals, they should be able to go for it too.
God, this really pisses me off.
And please note, it's not McDonald's fault that our country breeds a shitload of obese children. Um, I would say that's the fault of the fat-ass parents.
Forget the food restrictions. Pass a law to train, test, and qualify would-be parents before they can have children. Home-Ec courses should be mandatory in all high schools.
Gotta go now. My homemade pizza dough has risen. One pizza will have Alfredo sauce with cheese and sausage. The second will be with tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Crushed red pepper over the sauce for both. At least they're homemade!!!
Jenny, your pizza sounds awesome.
I agree that home ec should be brought back to our schools. I feel bad for people who don't know how to cook, and find no joy in cooking.
That said, if you are jonesing for a Big Mac every now and again, shouldn't you be permitted to eat one?
Amen Susan.
OK I think that America has lost it's mind a little. They can only give out a toy if the meal is HEALTHY?
Great! What's next the check out girl in the market won't be able to sell me a box of HoHo's and a bag of Dorito's in the same grocery order because I might lose my COMMON SENSE and consider them a meal????
What are parents for? Why the living hell are my tax dollars going to fund that kind of legislation? And they are doing this in Cali where the state is broke? If this wasn't so pathetic I would laugh.
There was an interesting discussion on this very subject on NPR last night, Market Place, I think. About how movies aimed at kids are more often than not greenlighted to be made only after it is determined what kind of a toy marketing tie in they can make from it. While I don't disagree with the arguement of Big Food being able to sell what they want to do, there is a more ugly and sinister level to it that I don't think a lot of people realize, nor do I agree with. And the marketing/advertising aimed at kids so they can go to Big Food for the lastest movie toy tie in is huge!
How about a compromise? What if they offered the free toy in (Gasp!) a HEALTHY kids meal? Instead of offering those crap nuggets, which are just made of a disgusting gelationous chicken by-product, and then fries, why not offer something healtiher (carrot sticks? milk? a non disgusting crap main item?) and then call it the Happy Healthy Meal.
At least Carl's Jr. give's healtier choices for their kids meals, but the other commentors are right, it's up to the parents to enforce the food eating habits, and not buckle and go for the fries when they should go with the carrot sticks.
@M,
As I stated earlier, I don't go to McDonald's, so I totally could have this wrong, but I'm under the impression based on ads that McD's does in fact offer apples and carrots and salads and milk in addition to its standard fast food fare? Are these options available for happy meals? If any of you eat at McDonald's and can verify or dispute this, please do so.
I am sorry but it is soapbox time. The reason kids are fat is because parents today are so terrified that their kids will be abducted that they won't let their kids go out walking on their own. Instead the parents drive their kids everywhere. Back when I was a kid in the Eisenhower administration I was pretty much free to explore the neighborhood, visit friends, go out in the big vacant lot behind the house, go to the five and dime store, whatever. Maybe my father was hoping I'd get abducted, I don't know, but do this day I still enjoy going out walking around and I am not obese.
Also, I agree with all you guys above who say it the parent's responsibility to see that their kids eat correctly, not the government's.
Jesus, people. If you are a single parent and you work a 12 hour shift and live in a neighborhood where the grocery store's produce section has about 3 moldy green peppers wrapped in cardboard trays, and you have sketchy childcare because the wait-list at daycare is several months long and your child support is late again -- believe me YOU will head for the nearest fast food place as fast as you can go.
Do not hate on poor people for eating unhealthy foods when the infrastructure of decent grocery stores, reliable and safe public transport, and affordable daycare are not in place.
Just don't.
A-fucking-men, Susan! Stole the words right out of my mouth. It's the parents responsibility to make sure that their kids are healthy. Yes, we need healthier options, but this is the wrong way to do so.
I am tired of hearing about this. We go to McD maybe once a month (I'm vegetarian and love to cook, so we don't eat much fast food period - this is not a holier than though thing) but when we do my kid gets chicken nuggets or a burger plus milk and apple dippers. No fries, no soda, no dessert. It's not a great meal but it's okay for once in a while. And when he bellyaches for the fries? "No."
@jfwlucy
Don't sit there and tell me that life is hard. Life was hard for my ma too, who didn't even have child support cause my bio dad is the fucking definition of a deadbeat dad. She worked three jobs, went to the fruit market where things aren't rotten, and paid a lady on our street who was a stay at home mom anyway some bucks to watch me after school until she got home from one of her THREE jobs. People are lazy these days and have a sense of entitlement that because they are able to spawn human life that someone should give them a break. You make your own breaks in life through hard work and determination. I refuse to allow people to blame their circumstance on their poor life choices. That's THEIR fault.
Sorry for the rant, but it IS possible to do it. People do it all the time and never complain.
@Jfwlucy Well said.
I like a lot of things - swimming, art, piano, reading, reading gossip blogs, but I don't like cooking. And I have taken a home-ec class.
I can cook, and when I have kids, I will be cooking for them (we're already looking into how to make our own baby food). But it doesn't mean I'll enjoy it when I'm doing it (same with going to the dentist, flossing, not getting the 2nd helping of dessert). You don't have to feel bad for me, it's just how it is, just like I don't feel bad for people that don't like swimming or art. I think it's a bit condescending to say so.
That being said... I married a guy who loves to cook. Worked out perfectly for me ;)
Kids are fat b/c they don't go outside anymore (ITA looserdude) AND b/c they sit on their butts with their Ipods, Playstations, XBox,PSPs, computers...whatever. It's not the fat kids playing little league ball. It's the kid sitting inside in the AC watching TV, crying that he doesn't want to go outside b/c "it's hot" or "it's boring". There's nothing wrong with fast food once in a while, and dang...I LIKE my happy meal dolls! What's wrong is that we, as a nation, have lost our accountability. It's YOUR fault I'm fat.
And Sue Ellen, you clearly turned out to be such a delightful, fun, compassionate person!
This law is dumb and a waste of time. Just as pretty much everything going on in California at the moment.
It's very easy to say NO and mean it instead of giving in to kids.
"Can we have a Happy Meal?" NO. You can have something from the Dollar Menu instead.
The toys wind up in the garbage after a day or two. So I finally said, no more Happy Meals.
"Can we go to McD's this week?" NO. It's a once in a while TREAT for you.
How hard is that to do?!? I swear, parents today (not all, naturally) are so freaking stupid. Stop caving into your precious darlings and say NO, damn it.
Lian - Totally didn't mean to be condescending re: loving to cook. Sorry! And, I see your point.
Looserdude - OMG. So much word to your post. I'm a child of the Reagan administration, and me and my peeps were free to roam as we pleased via foot or bike. I definitely think kids need to get out and play more. I think it's kind of funny that people have such a fear of child predators. Meaning, I know child predators are out there, but are there really more out there now in 2010 than there were in 1976? Probably not. It's just that we have more access to information on them. At least we do here in New Jersey.
@jfwlucy
Just beacuse I have sense and don't allow people to not take personal responsiblity, doesn't mean I am not compassionate. I just don't play when it comes to foolishness. I hate weak character.
@Looserdude
Child abductions, if the statistics I read a few months ago are correct, are still very rare. However, when we were kids (the 1970s is the Dark Ages to my kids...I showed them the cartoons we watched back then, and my son said, all you had was that junk?), there were no 24 hour news channels or Internet. Too much information has made parents paranoid.
My husband is one of these parents. I can't stand it. In fact, I have a "rep" among the more ignorant parents for letting my kids go "free range". Yet they're healthy, outside all the time, and the video game consoles gather dust on them. I don't see anything wrong with letting them have what I had (fun without fear) as a kid.
I used to be one of those parents who took her child to McDonald's way too much, and I'm very fortunate that my daughter is still so skinny and (mostly) prefers foods with some nutrition to them. She's never been much of a french fry person and would prefer apple wedges to cookies any time.
It is true that fresh produce is too expensive for us poorer people to afford and it's hard for us to find the time and energy to cook after working full days (at least when I was working full days as a single parent). Even so, it's possible to make healthy, home-cooked meals for your family with just some organization and effort. It's also possible to learn how to buy produce in-season when it's cheapest and to freeze or can it to use in its off-season. We've just gotten so used to thinking that our non-work lives should revolve around our entertainment (TV, computers, etc.) than our sustenance.
In any case, it's not McDonald's fault that I turned into a fat-ass and it wouldn't have been my daughters fault if she turned into a fat-ass either. I made the choices I have to live with.
In my country one can buy just the toy instead of the meal. So, if the child really wants the toy, no need to eat the food.
One thing I´ve always admired in the americans is that they don´t appreciate government into their personal business more than the necessary. What happened? McDonald´s can´t donate toys anymore? Ridiculous.
Nutty_
Obama is NOT a friend of the farmer. Quite the opposite. I live in the food growing capital of the world - the Central Valley - and he is DESPISED here. When you are not able to get your fresh produce, you can thank him for not helping the farmers here. His admin. has had deaf ears to the plights going on here even when other Dems were trying to help. Has resulted in thousands of lost jobs! My father farms in Colorado and he is no friend to them either.
While I agree it's up to the parents to monitor what goes in their child's mouth, I think this is a great idea. My son admitted to me a couple of years ago that the only reason why he wanted to go to McRotnald's was for the toys. After that, we hardly went.
I remember a couple of times we did ask for apple slices instead of fries. The looks on the faces of the servers! One of them screwed up (in the drive thru) so I had to park, go in and ask for apple slices - even brought back the order. The woman didn't understand. She finally brought my bag back. It had the fries *and* the apples.
oh, and btw - we all handle life and its inherent stresses differently. I try not to judge how someone goes about their daily existence because I'm not in their shoes.
@kathrynnova - SO true about finding cheap meals at Whole Foods! You just have to know where to look. I've gotten meals for under $5, sometimes under $3. Bring your own water (good way to go green), grab a roll in the bakery (69 cents), get a small scoop of egg salad or tuna salad (tuna's gonna cost you more), get a piece of fruit, and maybe a yogurt. Make yourself a sandwich with the roll and egg/ tuna salad and you're good. Oh, and go during the lunch rush. You'll get free samples to help fill you up.
People, the MOST RELIABLE PREDICTOR of obesity is a person's wealth. The poorer you are, the fatter you are. This was not true 30 years ago, before HFCS and processed foods were so widely pushed.
Either you seriously believe that 999 out of 1000 poor and obese people are ALL LACKING UTTERLY in character, or you admit that there might be some environmental/structural factors at work.
Lack of access to health care, lack of access to safe neighborhoods and gyms, and lack of access to decent groceries factor TOGETHER to make poor people many times more likely to be obese.
Look at it this way.
You have a dollar. You can buy 250 calories of carrots, OR you can buy 1,200 calories of potato chips. People still need calories to function at work and in daily life, and they are going to buy whatever gives them the most calories because they are hungry. Buying calorie-rich and nutrient-low food is a rational choice in the short term.
The system is rigged so that the most unhealthful calories in the grocery store are the only ones that poor people can afford.
For the record, I'm a fat person and I hate McDonalds. I also don't eat fast food except very rarely. I haven't been to the doctor for anything other than a check-up or a sinus infection in ten years. I don't have diabetes or any of the other illnesses attributed to fat people. I'm ridiculously healthy. And I'm 50 years old. So where's the lifetime problems with health? My thin sister goes to the doctor every six months for something. I come from a long line of healthy, happy and old fat people. Not everyone is supposed to be slender.
Hi,
Just another point to remember. I grew up outside, ate the same food as my brother, and was still fat. I still am fat even though I eat healthy food at home and at work and go to the gym 5 days a week. Some people are fat because we got the sucky end of the stick. I am trying, again, to get weight off, and have lost 31/2 kilos in one month. I have been hungry throughout that month. I wonder how many judgmental people on this blog could stay hungry for one month just to lose weight, even though they are fit and healthy, because the prejudice, meanness and bigotry bring you down?
Yeah, but if you buy 2 loose carrots for 50 cents and a potato for 50 cents, your caloric content goes higher as does your nutritional one. If you spend that dollar on chips you'll fill your hunger for an hour, but because the calories are pretty much empty, you're going to get hungry again and you've wasted your means to buy more chips.
Honestly, I can't get behind this. My grandma was a teen during the depression and knows the way to make food last and stretch. It's not my, or anyone elses, fault that some people choose to give in to the take away world we live in.
Also, I would just like to say, EVERYONE on this blog is judgemental. If you weren't, you wouldn't be on a gossip blog in the first place.
WALL•E!!!
jfwlucy, you're my new CDaN crush.
@kathrynnova
Anyone in this day and age who thinks that obesity is related to laziness or "character issues" has not been around me at deadline time. lol
Hi,
I wrote a great long comment which got lost. So here I go again.
Sue Ellen, when reading my post back I realised I wasn't as eloquent as I had hoped to be. My issue with the fat debate is the bigotry. We know that it is wrong to condemn people due to the colour of their skin, but it is considered fair game to judge people by the size and shape of their skin. Bigotry will thrive whilever attributes, both positive and negative, are attached to a group of people based on a superficial reason. I like coming on this blog because we can have discussions that I feel are intelligent, thoughtful and thought provoking. I also feel that for the most part, when we comment on individuals it is about particular behaviours that they are KNOWN to have done, such as drug use, abuse etc. And many times there are commenters who stand up for them and point out that the individual needs help. Yes, there are people who are literally eating themselves to death, and that is a health issue, and yes, people have a right to comment because it affects them when hospitals are involved etc, just as I have the right to point out that I am healthy, have no problems and work out more than anyone else I know. I do get a bit defensive with this topic, as being the victim of bigotry for 41 years can make one a bit touchy. If you replaced the word racism with bigotry, I hope you can understand that I inadvertantly wrote more harshly than I meant to in my first comment. My apologies for causing offense. In trying to get my point of view across, I became guilty of the very thing that has upset me all these years.
Just thought I would mention that one of the US' foremost national experts on health and exercise runs every day and he describes himself as 'short and fat' - he jogs for an hour a day.
'Dr. Blair said in a recent phone interview. "I've run tens of thousands of miles over the past 40 years, and in that time I've gained 30 pounds."'
this was from a nyt article about him:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/fashion/thursdaystyles/21exercise.html?_r=2&scp=5&sq=fat%20doesn%27t%20make%20you%20fat%20runner&st=cse
feraltart - please don't starve yourself - it is not worth it - although I can understand how you would feel pressured to do so.
You can't decide if a person is lazy based on their appearance. My dear friend eats mostly vegetables and runs marathons, but she's still 50 pounds overweight, and always will be.
Also, those who overeat are obeying a biological imperative. When food was scarce (throughout most of humanity's history), they would have been the people who thrived. Evolution doesn't change fast enough to keep up with our culture.
@feraltart
I never said anything about people who were over-weight. I was simplying calling bullshit on another posters litany of excuses for why poor parents choose fast food over healthy food. When I said that was a character flaw, I meant that the parents choosing what is easy over what is right as far as the food they pick for their children to eat. I stand by everything I said. Again, I did not and was not talking about over-weight people. I'm talking about lazy people.
As far as your diet goes, don't starve yourself. Just be yourself, and if that self is big, who gives a shit? Not me. I only care if someone is acting a fool.
I am kind of torn about this law too. I see where they are going with this but at the same time I don't like the idea of government telling a business how to run. Hmmm...
This was a very interesting thread to read. I liked hearing all the various perspectives.
When I was in my early 20's, I did eat really poorly because of my lack of money. I only shopped at Walmart. Luckily, we are in a much better position now & have the time/money to eat better. I try and buy organic when I can & you can't tell me its less expensive than the crap food. I've done both.
Eating healthy is doable but i think it does take effort IF you are used to living a certain way. People buy cheap food not always because it's cheap but also for the convenience factor! Someone that is working multiple jobs probably doesn't have time to grow a garden, so we gotta be realistic.
I think it definitely comes down to education, the parents & money. And sometimes it is a laziness thing too, in terms of being too lazy to cook something healthy. Lord knows I am that lazy person sometimes!
I like what a lot of you said about fast food with your kids. I'll have to remember that! A lady in my hippie neighborhood told her little boy that the Ice Cream man was just a guy who ran around the neighborhood playing music to tell the children to go to sleep. She told him this so he wouldn't always be bugging her for money for bad food. I thought that was kind of funny and horrible at the same time.
Everything in moderation. Americans have issues with moderation.
Sue Ellen, please read into what's going on in inner-city ghettos. There are places where there are liquor stores on every corner, but no grocery stores within miles, so people can only buy food for cooking at convenience stores that sell no produce.
Here's an article on the issue: http://www.wzzm13.com/news/health/healthy_you_story.aspx?storyid=124634&catid=166
Know what's weird? I wrote out this long comment, left it for 30 minutes, then came back to delete it cause it's too personal, and its gone. I even checked that I posted it and everything. It was here, and now it's gone.
Did I go too far, ent?
Enty doesn't bother deleting posts. It's a Blogger bug that does it.
A little tired of hearing hard work always pays off and provides the breaks in life. In that case, all women must be lazy and not working hard enough or else our salaries would mirror men's, no?
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