Cambridge, Mass. Wants to Ban All Soda and ‘Sugar-Sweetened’ Drinks in Restaurants
- Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:37am by
Mike Opelka
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If NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s dream to limit the size of sodas and other sweetened drinks has made people in New York angry, how will citizens of one Massachusetts city react if their elected official block all of these drinks, large and small in the city’s restaurants? The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts (the home of Harvard & MIT) has proposed such a thing.
Yesterday, the Mayor’s office sent a policy order stating:
That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to refer the matter of a ban on soda and sugar-sweetened beverages in restaurants to the Cambridge Public Health Department for a recommendation.
Apparently the Mayor believes that the citizens of Cambridge, Massachusetts are incapable of limiting their intake of soft drinks or “sugar-sweetened” beverages. Therefore, the only way to stop what he sees as an “increased risk of obesity and diabetes” is to ban (what they believe to be) the culprits.
Here is the official proposal, as seen on the Cambridge home page:
Where do you stand on this latest effort to ban foods considered to be unhealthy? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
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Comments (157)
VApatriot2
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:16amI’m betting there are a bunch of U-Haul-it trucks heading out of Cambridge. No? There will be!
Report Post »SocialistSlayer
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:23amSpeak-eases will be popping up in back rooms everywhere!
Report Post »Roberto G. Vasquez
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:25amBan this, ban that, and next thing you know we’ll all be wearing burkas! Maybe it’s “tar & feathers” time?
Report Post »HKS
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:31amGive liberals an inch and they will take a mile, looks like the libers of old are back and that worked so well with Prohibition.
Report Post »ReynMansson
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:41amWhat about BYOB? Order and drink your own Pepsi?
Report Post »Will this now increase alcohol consumption?
Under what jurisdiction can a municipality even ban the serving of a legal substance like sugared beverages?
Does the Mayor really expect this to not lead to several expensive legal challenges?
Did anyone vote on this?
drbage
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:43amYet another big government nanny state attack on private enterprise. First, they tell restauranteers that they can’t use transfats. Next, came the ban on smoking. Now they want to end the sale of sodas and sweetened drinks. Ask many restauranteers and barkeepers where their biggest profit margin is and they will tell you it is the sodas. So, is the purpose or the unintended consequence to have all restaurants and bars close in the city of Cambridge or to make them all into non-profits?
Report Post »dimitrisokolov
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:10amThey should ban all of the dirtbags hanging out in Harvard Square.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:33am.
Report Post »The nanny state never quits.
Like a stake through the heart of a vampire, their funds must be cut.
Otherwise, cameras in the bathrooms to make sure you’re not using too much toilet paper.
Jumper
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:45amYou’re right, there probably will be. Normally, I don’t give a crap what crazy liberal states up north do, but they’ve gotten so crazy lately, that I‘m afraid you’re comment is dead on, and they’ll start moving south. So listen up those of you above the line, vote these jerks out!! Don’t vote with your feet, take action against those who would strip you of your liberties, common sense, and personal responsibility, don‘t let Big Brother decide what’s best for you, instead of you deciding what’s best for you. Those of us down here don’t dislike you, until you move down here and try to turn our neighborhood into your old one. I’ve seen it happen too many times, didn’t work, but the attempt was still annoying and divisive. Stay there and fix your problems. Having said that, I do feel for you being stuck with idiots who would even propose something so stupid. Sugary drinks cause obesity. This is no different than saying guns kill people, forks make people fat and pencils misspell words.
Report Post »michael48
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 11:06amwish I lived there …so I could leave…what in HE!! are the idiots in the NE drinking..bath salts????
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 12:15pmThis is why you can’t give government a single millimeter on anything. There are examples of this through-out our country in all areas of life. The time for talk will soon be over and the time for real old school possible french revolution actions are at hand.
Report Post »RailRoadCar9
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 5:05pmcan you fascism , %$$^%%^T these busy body bitchess
Report Post »volantis
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:14amWhy should sugar not be regulated? Banning soft drinks specifically without directly educating the public on the health risks is poor planning, however, we already regulate tobacco products, trans fats, arsenic, and numerous other elements and compounds.
The childish argument that one has the “right” to bad health if it tastes good is the sign of mental illness.
People who abuse their “rights” end up costing the rest of us dearly for their poor health. The sugar drinking population ends up causing the healthy population to take care of them, which is a form of slavery. A proper study might find that most candy and soft drinks should be banned from public sale, as should other poisons (euphemistically called “foods”). If people want to make these sin foods at home, then fine, but keep them out of public commerce. Public commerce should be solely for improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Report Post »KAS_Wolf
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:21amI’m sorry – who died and left you judge, jury and arbiter of “what people should do”?
The ‘healthy’ and the ‘unhealthy’ all end the same way – dead one day. Think on this – none of us are getting out of this existance any differently.
You get to police and control your own life – not anyone else’s.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:25amidiot
Report Post »canadianlady
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:25amWhat a weak argument. You are FOR the banning of sugary drinks, but okay with selling tobacco products. Yeah, right.
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:28amWhat a moronic post. You actually want the government to control what everyone eats? It costs everyone? Then stop making government health programs mandatory. How people live is everybody’s business? Then let’s do it right. Lack of exercise is also a public health concern. Let’s have mandatory exercise programs for everyone daily. The body converts carbohydrates into sugar. So lets limit the intake of rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, or anything else that may raise the sugar level. Let’s make all combustion engines illegal. Let’s make it mandatory that all food is organically grown. Never mind that that it would triple the cost of food and make it impossible for the U.S. to feed even it’s own people. People who want to have the government control every aspect of other people’s lives make me sick and disgust me to no end.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:28am“Public commerce should be solely for improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities.”
Oh yeah? And who exactly gets to decide the standards? Some faceless board of bureaucrats hiding behind the state? Who decides who sits on that board? Wow, next thing you know you will be utiliizing Bloomberg‘s argument that the state is simply forcing people to understand what’s good for them.
Oh wait, you already are.
Fine. YOU move to Cambridge and contribute further to the nanny state by being a good little sheep. Keep your “govt knows what’s best for you” attitude up north. And for Heaven’s sake, don’t reproduce. Just abstain, please. We don’t need more lemmings incapable of making responsible personal decisions running around demanding that the govt take care of them from cradle to grave…..
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:28amThat leaves booze, ALRIGHT!
Report Post »I don’t normally do this but, YOU are a moron
RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:29amYeah, and let’s get back into the bedrooms and insure that ALL adults are having safe, protected sex. Lets essentially bubble wrap all children when they leave the interior of their homes. For that matter, all homes with children should be bubble wrapped inside and out. Let’s put NASCAR racing harnesses in all automobiles regardless the cost, go for the full NASCAR safety package in all seats, and, oh yeah, those restrictor plates to govern acceleration. Let’s ban anything that heats itself to the point that it can cause human injury. Let’s envelope all bicycles in a crash resistant clear plastic bubble. All sidewalk and street surfaces must be of a surface that will not cause tripping, and falling injuries. Etc, etc, etc,etc….
Report Post »You freaking food Nazis are all alike. Go pound salt and stop rationalizing the Unconstitutional acts of power hungry politicians.
Tigress1
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:31amThis is a classic sign of know-it-allness, and control-freakitis.
Give Progressives an inch and they take a mile.
Report Post »Solution: Don’t give them a millimeter.
dblaess
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:33amI see you started today, most likely to make this stupid comment in an attempt to rile up everyone. Think what a wonderful world you propose, ban everything but bread and water and turn back the clock to 12th century. George is this you yet again?
Report Post »geronomo
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:34amYou must be simply stupid or have been controlled by others all your life? What right has some beaurocrat got to tell me what to eat or drink? They are incrementally taking away our own control over much of our lives and when we eventually wake up and wipe the proverbial crap out of our eyes, we will have very little freedom left.
Report Post »DTOM_Jericho (Creator vindicator)
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:36amlook psycho… you CANNOT “abuse your rights”. You obviously do not understand a right. A right belongs to YOU, not the government. It CANNOT be regulated or legislated away. There can be no gun laws, no “hate speech” laws or any right-infringing laws. That‘s not to say they don’t get “passed” or “enforced”, it is to say that it is tyrannical. You should not be able to infringe on the right’s of others.
Additionally, whether you like it or not, in this REPUBLIC, rights come from God. God has given free-will and given every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed as FOOD.
So take the God argument or the “constitution-only” argument, either way, you lose.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:38amJust wait, some member of the nanny left will propose a $1/can sin tax on sodas and say that the money will used to fund some new government program of wealth redistribution.
Report Post »But this is Cambridge, the home of Hahvahd, so what else would you expect?
booger71
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:24amPublic commerce should be solely for improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Report Post »===============
First of all it is PRIVATE commerce OK. Secondly, the only thing that liberals want us to have complete freedom to do is have and abort babies.
Shintoc
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:30amPublic places mabe but these at privitely owned bussiness. If the government wants to stop selling them in government run places that would be ok but these are businesses people onw and they have the right to make that decision not the government. I feel the same on smoking it is up to the owner of the business not the government to make that decision.
Report Post »ertdfg
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 11:46amWhy should all food not be regulated and controlled? You can get fat eating too much of anything so your entire diet and exercise regimen should be strictly controlled.
Also your job and sleep habits can control weight gain, these must be controlled as well.
No problem, we’ll move you to a farm under controlled living conditions, you’ll have mandatory daily exercise and dormitory living with enforced food, sleep, and exercise regimen.
Enjoy picking cotton slave.
What? Slavery is the best you can possibly hope for; you’re not smart enough to handle freedom, liberty, or choices for yourself; so we must enslave you for your own good. Exactly the argument made by slave owners before the civil war.
I guess they not only were correct, it was all humanity and not just Africans who couldn’t handle freedom and needed to be enslaved for their own good.
If you disagree explain where your attacks on freedom, liberty, and choice end. Truly allowing freedom must allow some people to make a decision you disagree with; if you can‘t handle that you’re promoting slavery regardless what you pretend.
Why shouldn’t people be enslaved and controlled? That’s the basis of your argument; want to try again? If not, you go into slavery first. Go show us how enjoyable slavery really is.
Report Post »SpeaknUp
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 1:36pmIf health care was treated like a commodity that individuals purchase as needed (and afforded) from a private sector free market (the norm for thousands of years) and not a contrived human right, THEN my neighbor’s bad health would not affect me.
Get the government out of health care and the argument for banning unhealthy food evaporates like steam from a double-chocolate latte…and the individual liberty to decide what you will eat–which IS a human right–prevails. The government’s only role in health is to educate– except, even there, they get it wrong most of the time. They get it wrong because they pander to big business, giant agriculture and big-pharma. Government’s primary goal is control. That’s what they do best. And that’s exactly why they need to be put on a short leash.
Report Post »MetalPatriot
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:53pmVolantis…
The point is that this is PRIVATE commerce, not PUBLIC (government). We all know you were sent here to stir the pot looking for those with anti-government rhetoric. Here ya go…
Mayor Davis, the city councel, & the city manager need to be run out of town. The public health department needs to be ignored or destroyed.
Happy? I am because I choose to be free and NOT COMPLY…RESIST!!!
Report Post »SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:14amWhat a clear and objective insight into the mind of a liberal politician. They believe themselves worthy to tell you how to live, what to eat,what to drink, how to think. Their self-inflated egos masked by a, “I’m doing this for your own good and the good of others.” In reality it is their self-perceived superiority and “superior” wisdom that they seek to stroke all the while gaining more power and influence to live however they choose. I’m convinced more and more it is a mental illness with narcissisitic roots. These folks loathe the masses and see them as mere herds to be ruled and shepherded. Why anyone would fall under their “we know best” mantra is beyond me, but I fear for the next few generations and what their lot will be in this country. But in the end times people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure. I’d say this diescribes much of America unfortunately and most all of our politicians.
Report Post »DOHnuts
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:13amSeems the phrase, “For the greater good.” is become more and more popular these days. Looks like the dumbing down of history in our schools is working well. But on a side note we have finally found something the schools are doing well.
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:11amThe solution is simple. Don’t travel to Cambridge. If you have to, eat at restaurants outside the city. If you live there, move or enjoy your chosen drink in restaurants outside of Cambridge. Vote with your feet and your wallet.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:10amAll FASCISTS know… the Common People are STUPID!
Report Post »tuffenough
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:09amI am so glad to be a Texan — this crap will never fly down here.
Report Post »NoBama Mama
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:37amMe too, Tuff. It won’t fly in Texas. And even if they did, I’d fight it tooth and nail. Nobody regulates what I eat and/or drink.
Report Post »NLN
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 6:54pmYou bet Tuff. The only state to live in.
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:06amWell, shucks, we know how well Prohibition worked !
Report Post »Brittany-Imbriaarts
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:05amWell Soda is out, guess some tea as well, Fruit juice, Lemon aid, of course milk shakes leaving water for those under 21 or that don’t drink. Of course they could ban that too. Jerks
Report Post »MBA
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:02amBanning personal freedoms and personal choice is not what this country is about. Instead of taking away liberty, how about encouraging exercise and work (yes, work burns calories)! It looks like the nazis are alive and well in Cambridge and the liberal democrat party.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:01amOnce government gets on a roll of banning a product they’ll never stop,with one exception,tobacco because the government makes more from the sale of tobacco than the companies that produce it.
Cut all government by 65% ie abolish whole unconstitutional departments and their business killing regulations and watch this economy soar.
Or continue with this statism and become a third world country.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:59amFirst, the Cambridge police ‘acted stupidly’, now the Mayor is following suit.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:05amSup G? Must be something in the water to make them act so irrationally.
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:07amGreat comment !
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:19amGonzo, Yeah, this sounds like something that Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates could really get behind. Just as long as the cops leave him alone the next time he is observed breaking into a house.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 12:05pmSup Slaya?
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 12:41pmGonzo Same ole same ole,fightin the good fight with Obamazombies whenever I run into one,just doing my part.
Report Post »Listen_then_think
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:58amThen you have to ban all beer and alcohol sales because alcohol has more than twice the cals, 9 calories per gram versus sugars 4 cal/gram. You also have to ban all fruit and fruit drinks, and since starch is a sugar you have to ban all potatoes i ncluding any type of chip or fries. Then you have to ban yogurts and milk because of lactose which is a sugar. etc etc. Go on do it! be stupid and watch businesses fail then flee the city. You will have a ghost town and ZERO tax revenue.
Report Post »HumbleCitizen
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:37amThis fits neatly into the NWO’s need for 6 billion to die. Starvation has long been a favorite killing machine of the elites.
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:56amNo soda or sweetened drinks? No problem. Don’t go to ANY restaurants. Start cooking at home again, or strictly take outs. Starve ‘em.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:55amban “sugar-sweetened” beverages.
I thought beer and some other alcoholic drinks contain sugar ?
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:26amAll carbs turn into sugar in the gut
Report Post »Bryan B
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:54amHow about we all just “Ban” Cambridge, Massachusetts …….
Report Post »love the kids
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:52amSince “Sugary drinks” seem to be the answer to all health problems, I guess it will be OK when Obamacare is repealed.
Report Post »love the kids
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:51amGo for it, Soda now, what next???
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:47amthis is the beauty of competition. I’d be willing to bet that the restaurants in cambridge have a drop in business as the surrounding cities will allow soda in their restuarants.
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 9:01amRight, then Cambridge will cry because they‘ll say it’s not FAIR!! And they’ll want the WHOLE state to go soda free!!
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:46amThe ingenuity of the capitalist will always defeat the progressive.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:46amThe people of Cambridge will complain, do nothing then vote these Marxists back in office…
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:46amThis is the beauty of competition. I’d be willing to bet this causes a significant drop in the business of restaurants in cambridge, since all the surrounding cities allow sodas in their restaurants.
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:45amOur local school district tried to ban sugar about five years ago. The kids were only allowed water or milk to drink, since fruit juice has fructose in it. The PTA no longer could have bake sales or sell frozen cookie dough, most of the desserts were banned and recipes had to be “adjusted”. Yes, folks, salad dressing often has sugar included in it. The District backed off of it. It was an unmitigated disaster for everyone involved. Going sugar free is possible, but it has to be something the person chooses to do, otherwise the kids will be sneaking “forbidden” food every chance they get.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:52amCorrect… banning only causes people to do it more. I guess this is good, it wakes people up… especially the youth.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:42amI think we should ban cambridge.
Report Post »Chevalier
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 3:50pmBetter yet, ban morons from running for office everywhere. . . .
Report Post »chnswstr
Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:41amI’ll just take the Red Line across the river.
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