"government" news and stories

That's right. If you live in the great state of Mississippi and you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, you may be denied service at restaurants soon.

There is a bill working its way through the Mississippi House of Representatives now that would require restaurants to refuse to serve patrons who are obese. The bill would require eateries to keep track of customers BMI's and have scales at the doors. The states Department of Health would be responsible for enforcing compliance, and would revoke business permits for those dining establishments that violated the legislation.

This bill was introduced by Representative W.T. Mayhall, JR. Though he doesn't think his legislation will actually pass, he is very serious about it. He is concerned about the "serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system." You can read the full text of the bill at this link.

I'm all for the government trying to protect its citizens and curbing its spending but I'm not sure this is the way to go about it. I think that prevention programs would be much more useful. I also believe that it's not the role of government to lead in the persecution of some of its citizens. Sorry Mr. Mayhall, that's not a good way to get reelected.

[Via coldmud]

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The Indian state of Kerala, along with several other states, implemented a ban on Coca Cola and Pepsi colas after the companies refused to reveal their recipes to the government. On Friday, the High Court ruled that the ban was illegal and immediately reversed it, saying "state government had no jurisdiction to impose a ban on the manufacture and sale of [those] products. Only the federal government can ban food products."

Coke, Pepsi and fans of the two brands lauded the decision, but the top elected official in the state said he would attempt to get the ruling overturned.

The New Delhi research group, the Center for Science and Environment, was the original driving force behind the ban and wanted it reinstated, though a spokesperson did say that, since a significant number of food products produced in India contain pesticides, that alone was not the reason they targeted the cola companies. It was "because they account for nearly 80 percent of India's $2 billion soft drink market."

At this time, it seems unlikely that the court's decision will be reversed.

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The Department of Agriculture has proposed some changes to the standards currently in place for grass fed beef. At the moment, there really are no specific guidelines, and farmers who produce at least 99% grass fed beef want labels that indicate that their beef is exactly what it sounds like: from cows that live in pastures and eat only grass. The proposal has no provisions that state that the cows must be kept in pastures and it defines "grass" to include "leftovers from harvested crops," including corn and silage, which feedlot finished cows are already fed. It means that some conventional beef, feedlot beef, could be labeled "grass fed."

Understandably, the farmers who have pasture-raised cattle don't like the proposal because it devalues the "grass fed" label, barely separating it from conventional beef as far as consumers are concerned. They propose a more specific definition of "grass" and a minimum amount of time that the cows must spend grazing in pasture each day. The Agriculture Department says those rules are too strict and that their standards put less strain on ranchers, particularly in years of bad weather or drought when pastures may suffer.

Under the Agriculture Department's standards, more beef labeled "grass fed" will reach the market. But will consumers want it, or be willing to pay a premium for it, if it has no distinction from conventional?

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The Indian state of Kerala has initiated a plan to ban Pepsi and Coke for having levels of pesticides above the permissible amount. The whole thing seems to be a campaign against the products, both of which are produced locally using the local water supply. Even Indian commentators are taking note and observing that perhaps the money that the Indian Center for Science and Environment (CSE) intends to spend fighting the cola companies would be better spent running "a campaign for clean water" and reducing the levels of pesticides in all instances.

According to the same source, the CSE's "conclusions were that Diet Pepsi contained 0.36 amounts of pesticide per parts per billion (ppb), as tested by the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata, that Pepsi contained 0.09 and that this was below the limit prescribed for packaged water by the Ministry of Health."

Other sources verify that the levels found in the soft drinks were lower than the levels of pesticide found in tea and other food products, including eggs, apples, rice and milk. So why target Pepsi and Coke? The CSE says that they cannot compare apples - which are reported to have 30200 times the prescribed limit of pesticides, versus 28,040 times the limit in tea and only 24 times the limit for Pepsi - to sodas. But the companies make convenient scapegoats in a country that seems to have pollution issues in areas other than their sodas.

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A few years ago, Ben & Jerry's ice cream was sold to Unilever and the company dropped some of its social activist policies and programs. The spirit remained, but with the founders out of the game, very little non-ice cream action was undertaken. Recently, at the request of the company's new top executive, the "ageing hippie" founders have returned to work with the ice cream company and are leading a campaign that is spearheaded by their newest flavor, American Pie.

The ice cream is browns sugar and cinnamon flavored, witch chunks of apples and pie crust in it, capturing the spirit of an all-American dessert. On the carton, there are ways to get involved in the American Pie campaign, which is detailed at the Ben& Jerry's website. Their goal is to convince consumers to convince the government to change their spending priorities on issues such as education and insurance coverage.

The flavor sounds like it is one that will appeal to most ice cream (and pie) fans, but the question now is whether a love of ice cream will change anyone's political opinions - or if a difference in political opinion, or simply a desire not to have politics on ice cream packaging, will keep anyone from buying it.

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