quote:

Originally posted by Orko I say we should have a fast food tax to pay for all the garbage it produces.

Totally agree. We have taxes on cigarettes because they are health hazards, yet we don't have taxes on fast food which is also a health hazard. If McDonalds burgers cost a lot more I'm sure a lot more people would switch to making their own food, or would at least cut down on the amount of fast food they buy.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.

Buncha fat maple syrup pan cake eating cakers!

___________________
Arnej MySpace

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Totally agree. We have taxes on cigarettes because they are health hazards, yet we don't have taxes on fast food which is also a health hazard. If McDonalds burgers cost a lot more I'm sure a lot more people would switch to making their own food, or would at least cut down on the amount of fast food they buy.

I am not talking about it for health reasons, just purely for garbage collection. The majority of garbage cans around the city, and at bus stops are filled with trash from Tim Hortons, and McDonalds. The garbage then piles up, is left on the streets, and just clogs up the entire city.

^ That's a good reason too. Hit 2 birds with one stone.

Plus, I think it will make fast food more competitively priced with restaurants that actually serve healthy food.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.

Well that's another thing I've recently realised, most restaurants sell food that is not good for you. Sure you go in and get an entre, with veggies and potatoes, but everything is laced with butter and oil.

Meals at restaurants are usually made to taste good, but they just don't give a shit about health either. Most dishes are very rich, which means carbs, fats, oils.

I recently (3-4 weeks ago) stopped eating outside, and I instantly lost weight.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko It is not cheaper to eat fast food, than to cook at home. Anybody who does their own grocery shopping and cooking should realise this. I spend $100/month on my groceries. There is no way I could feed myself 2-3 meals a day on $100, when eating fast food.

Does that $100 per month include 3 meals a day? I've never heard of anyone being able to get by on so little; I always cook, never eat prepared/frozen foods, and I also eat out a couple of times a week, and my grocery budget is $200 per month minimum.

Maybe if you're vegetarian and never buy meat then it costs less, but that's not necessarily a healthy choice, contrary to what some people believe.

For reference, they used to offer the McDeal for $1.29. If you skipped breakfast and ate two of those for lunch and dinner each (which, sadly, is exactly how some people eat), that comes out to just over $150 for 30 days. Fast food is cheap if you buy the cheap stuff.

Also, in your post after that, you say that you can get an entree "with veggies and potatoes". It sounds like you're suggesting that potatoes are a healthy addition; they're not, potatoes are a starch and are empty calories for the most part. That's precisely the reason restaurants are so eager to give you potatoes with your meal; they're cheap and they fill you up fast.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Totally agree. We have taxes on cigarettes because they are health hazards, yet we don't have taxes on fast food which is also a health hazard. If McDonalds burgers cost a lot more I'm sure a lot more people would switch to making their own food, or would at least cut down on the amount of fast food they buy.

Are you actually telling us that you approve of taxation as a means of social control? I'm disappointed.

Sorry, but fast food is not a "health hazard", either. Fast food, and even most "junk food", is perfectly safe if eaten in moderation. You don't automatically become sick or obese if you don't meet your RDA for every vitamin and mineral. If you eat fast food in ridiculous excess, as in that travesty of a documentary "Super-Size Me", then you probably will have some complications, but it is not up to the rest of society to foot the bill for your rehab.

___________________
My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut Are you actually telling us that you approve of taxation as a means of social control? I'm disappointed. Sorry, but fast food is not a "health hazard", either. Fast food, and even most "junk food", is perfectly safe if eaten in moderation. You don't automatically become sick or obese if you don't meet your RDA for every vitamin and mineral. If you eat fast food in ridiculous excess, as in that travesty of a documentary "Super-Size Me", then you probably will have some complications, but it is not up to the rest of society to foot the bill for your rehab.

I'll continue with my cigarettes analogy: one cigarette is not going to kill you. But many raise the risk of cancer. One fast food meal is not going to kill you, but many raise the risk of heart disease. And yes, I'm for it. I don't know how high our obesity rates must be before the gov't actually does something useful about it (not just some gay healthy food education programs). By making fast food less affordable, less people will be overeating it (If you only eat it once in a while, the small percentage increase in prices won't affect you, it'll only hit those who depend on fast food all the time), and the government will get some money out of it.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut Does that $100 per month include 3 meals a day? I've never heard of anyone being able to get by on so little; I always cook, never eat prepared/frozen foods, and I also eat out a couple of times a week, and my grocery budget is $200 per month minimum. Maybe if you're vegetarian and never buy meat then it costs less, but that's not necessarily a healthy choice, contrary to what some people believe. Also, in your post after that, you say that you can get an entree "with veggies and potatoes". It sounds like you're suggesting that potatoes are a healthy addition; they're not, potatoes are a starch and are empty calories for the most part. That's precisely the reason restaurants are so eager to give you potatoes with your meal; they're cheap and they fill you up fast.

I share my groceries with my room mate. Our monthly bill has averaged $200 for the last 14 months (got the budget, and bills to prove it). We buy lots of meat, always on sale, and store it in our freezer. Yes, I know I am not taking into account the electricity for that freezer, but that's just too much trouble. Last year, while living with a different room mate we were able to get our monthly bill down to $180 avg.

I also eat a lot of dried foods: lentles, rice, and beans. It's an absolutly great way to keep the bills down, and pretty nutritous, depending on how you cook them. Hooray for Indian food (so cheap to cook).

As for the potatoes, I ment that it's not a great choice. Its full of potential carbs, and along with the cooking method, the can be terrible for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur I'll continue with my cigarettes analogy: one cigarette is not going to kill you. But many raise the risk of cancer. One fast food meal is not going to kill you, but many raise the risk of heart disease. And yes, I'm for it. I don't know how high our obesity rates must be before the gov't actually does something useful about it (not just some gay healthy food education programs). By making fast food less affordable, less people will be overeating it (If you only eat it once in a while, the small percentage increase in prices won't affect you, it'll only hit those who depend on fast food all the time), and the government will get some money out of it.

Tell me again when body weight became the government's responsibility?

Fast food does not, in fact, raise the risk of heart disease in the same fashion that cigarettes raise the risk of lung cancer. You can eat as much fast food as you want as long as you exercise and get proper nutrition from other sources. The same is not true of cigarettes; there is nothing a person can do to offset their negative effects.

More importantly, cigarettes are a mild health risk to other people due to SHS. Fat bastards are only hurting themselves.

Your analogy is false, your goal is unclear, and your plan is ludicrous and unfair.

___________________
My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut Tell me again when body weight became the government's responsibility?

since unhealthy people started bringing up the cost of health care.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by Orko I share my groceries with my room mate. Our monthly bill has averaged $200 for the last 14 months (got the budget, and bills to prove it). We buy lots of meat, always on sale, and store it in our freezer. Yes, I know I am not taking into account the electricity for that freezer, but that's just too much trouble. Last year, while living with a different room mate we were able to get our monthly bill down to $180 avg. I also eat a lot of dried foods: lentles, rice, and beans. It's an absolutly great way to keep the bills down, and pretty nutritous, depending on how you cook them. Hooray for Indian food (so cheap to cook).

That makes some sense, but you do have to consider that fast food is very rich compared to rice, lentils, and beans. Fast food is also fatty and greasy, and it's quite possible to make rich food that's still reasonably healthy, but it's going to cost a lot more than what you're quoting.

I assume by "on sale" meat, you're talking about the stuff that's marked down because it's a couple of days old and has to be cooked or frozen within about 24 hours of buying it. There isn't anything wrong with that (great way to save some money), but if everyone in Toronto used that same strategy, it obviously would not work. If you want to compare the cost of cooking to the cost of restaurants or fast foods, you have to compare at regular retail prices.

If you want to cook a nice meal like steak or salmon, it could cost you upwards of $25 for just that one meal. A couple of McDick's burgers is a fraction of that. Home cooking can be much cheaper than fast food, but it really depends on what you cook.

___________________
My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

quote:

Originally posted by chinamon since unhealthy people started bringing up the cost of health care.

Bullshit. People don't go to the ER for obesity, and fancy-pants fatass cures like liposuction or gastric bypass surgery is not covered by OHIP.

Is there any evidence whatsoever to support that fast food is driving up health care costs? (And please, let's keep this debate within the realm of sanity and not bring up Michael Moore or similar garbage).

Even if there were the tiniest kernel of truth to this statement, that still does not make body weight the government's responsibility - it just means they shouldn't be providing free treatment to people who wilfully put themselves at a high health risk (this is essentially the same approach that most private insurance companies take).

___________________
My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here