And lessens my enjoyment of the item.
I would like to just pick what I like, swipe my card, and not have to see the price or pick based on price. It robs all the joy out of it.
Isn't it better, to have everything you bought just charged to your account every few months (without itemizing, of course, so that I still don't know the cost of items consumed)? You would just know if you are generally gaining debt or have a healthy savings account.
Doesn't the above system sound insane to you?
Yet there are so many people who say that about nutritional information. That exact same attitude!
A person has a very limited amount of calories to "spend" every day, even more limited than money for many. And there is a price to pay and debt(fat) to be accumulated, regardless of if you look at the price or not. I want to know how much things cost in order to make an informed decision. Luckily, NYC has the most consumer oriented laws in this respect, with calorie info displayed on menus, boards, right on that cookie that is next to a barista counter... But I wish it went further and applied not only to medium chains but a small ones, or my favourite bakeries (that ship country wide btw, so they are big enough) and anyone who sells food and is bigger than a stand-alone individual proprietor operation.
I do not want to know how much things cost. It depresses me.
November 24th, 2014 at 03:23 pm
November 24th, 2014 at 05:34 pm 1416850486
November 24th, 2014 at 05:43 pm 1416851037
November 24th, 2014 at 05:46 pm 1416851208
Is it fair to channel tax dollars to regulating sources where many of us obtain less than 5% of our total sustenance?
November 24th, 2014 at 07:11 pm 1416856293
The result I'm trying to achieve is to be able to see what I'm consuming and how much it will cost me. Transparency. I've changed my choices since these laws came out in NYC. When you look at it on the menu, you know that this frappe and a cookie is not a snack, but a meal to rival dinner. Now that I know that cookie is 370 calories, I won't get it, since I can get a creamy eclair that I will enjoy more, and so on.
"Is it fair to channel tax dollars to regulating sources where many of us obtain less than 5% of our total sustenance?"
It accounts for far more than 5% of people's overall caloric intake for the majority of people. And laws supposed to benefit the majority. And it does not cost much at all to taxpayers, it is cost of doing business for establishments. How unreasonable for them to tell us what we are consuming?
But if adhere to the "I don't want to spend a single cent on anybody else because that's what capitalism is all about" philosophy, how do you reconcile this view with the 40% of healthcare budget being spend on treatment of diabetes and diabetes related diseases? According to this viewpoint, why should I be forced to pay thousands of dollars a year more in health insurance to pay for someone else's choice of being obese? Isn't that anti-capitalist?
November 24th, 2014 at 07:21 pm 1416856902
Empower yourself. Lots of grocery store food already has nutritional information. When I grab my Amy's Bean & Cheese burrito to take to work for lunch I know exactly what it contains.
And while you may not know where the persimmon or avocado from the grocery store or farmers market or fruit stand falls precisely in terms of calories, you can look up the average very easily.
November 24th, 2014 at 07:23 pm 1416857022
Right. Why not encourage a lower percentage?
November 24th, 2014 at 07:24 pm 1416857088
This is not my philosophy. I gladly spend many thousands of dollars every year educating children.
November 24th, 2014 at 07:28 pm 1416857337
This is not my philosophy. I gladly spend many, many thousands of dollars every year educating children and ensuring the general welfare of my fellow citizens. Just because I don't see requiring a small business owner to post information that ought to be self-evident as an efficient use of limited resources doesn't mean I don't care.
November 25th, 2014 at 02:55 pm 1416927309
November 28th, 2014 at 03:48 pm 1417189718
There is such thing as a calorie inflation. For example, I used to occasionally get a hot wrap from Pret a Manget. I know how many calories it was (luckily, in NYC they are required to post it right next to the price, as it is a second price). Over the last two years, the EXACT SAME wrap first went up 70 calories, than another 50 few months later. It did not change neither in look, nor in taste that I notice, and if the info was not posted and I would have no idea. I would reasonably believe that I am eating the same thing that I looked up a year ago. And an extra 100 calorie on a regular basis would add up and be blamed on slowing metabolism. And trust me, Pret is not the only place that does this.
Now I don't count calories and have things like chocolate, alcohol, absolutely awesome NYC pastries, but for stuff I eat daily I want to have a clear idea. Sure, you can stay normal size without that info, but it is much harder.
As for super giant soda ban proposal that NYC had (where they would cap the size at something already excessive) that caused so much controversy, I supported it. Why? Because the city is trying to save money. I live here - rich people do not drink soda. Middle class people here don't drink soda. I never see any co-workers or friends, or people out drinking it except in poor neighborhoods. People don't get it with lunch around here, in convenience stores in good neighborhoods there are fresh squeezed juice stations.
Poor people, who use "free" healthcare supplied by the city and local hospitals are the main consumers of soda. The city is looking after its own financial interest and its obesity related healthcare expenses cost taxpayers more than a soda tax would.
November 28th, 2014 at 04:00 pm 1417190454