So, you think these food bans won’t cost jobs? Consider the case of the Olde Town Bakery in Moline, IL, a popular bakery whose owner must now consider a move across the Mississippi to Iowa if Illinois passes a state-wide trans-fat ban.
The Quad City Times reports:
The legislation, which recently passed the Illinois House, would ban trans fats in food served in restaurants, movie theaters, cafes and bakeries and foods sold in school vending machines beginning in 2013. If the Senate approves the bill and Gov. Pat Quinn signs it, Illinois would be the second state to enact such a ban, with California being the first.
“I’m not sure who gave (the government) the authority to be the food police,” said Olde Towne Bakery owner Andy VanHoe. “It’d be devastating for us.”
Because Olde Towne Bakery uses shortening containing trans fat that creates the “taste that customers like,” Mr. Van Hoe said, they definitely have mulled the idea of an Iowa store, possibly for a wedding cake business.
“I wouldn’t want to leave Moline’s Olde Towne. That’s our base and that’s who we’re here to serve,” he said. “But (without the trans fat), the products over here just wouldn’t be the same.”
I posted a blog yesterday about a fast food ban recently established in Wellfleet, MA. The ban is intended to protect Wellfleet’s “unique character.”
Where’s the respect for the Olde Towne Bakery’s “unique” products?
Is Illinois becoming such a nanny state that its citizens are going to allow some bureaucrat in Springfield to dictate what ingredients are being used by chefs and bakers?
There are a lot of cooking ingredients and foods that, if used in excess, aren’t especially good for you: salt, sugar, butter, oil, carbs, red meat, booze. Should the state begin regulating the individual’s consumption of these products? Should we all be given a punch card dictating how much and how often we decide to enjoy particular foods? Oops-you just punched your last “baked potato.” It’s Quinoa for the rest of the month for you!
People generally react to these bans with a sigh of quiet resignation. But these bans should no longer be viewed as simply heart-right efforts to improve the health of Americans; they are government regulations gone amok and they will cost Americans precious jobs during these difficult economic times.