Recieved this from my Grandson about a week ago..He has a good head on his shoulders. He has one more year yet in the Purdue School of Restaurant and Hotel Management. He is doing quite well and has several offers from Indianapolis hotels for intership this summer and one or more for full time employment after graduation.
Clint said it was ok to print this and share it with you all...He makes many good points here about the restaurant business and how maybe common sense and self discipline needs to happen instead of government interference. Can not help but be real proud of this young gentleman as he has come very far to achieve what he is about to achieve...I must tell a joke on myself when he was in about the 8th grade he was getting a poor grade in Algebra and I was somewhat disgusted with this as I had taken freshman algebra and surely I could help him out. I asked him if he wanted me to help him and he said yes Grandpa I would...So I said, "well you get that book home tomorrow night and I will be over to show you a few things"...
Well I went over and I read the lesson for that day and I was blown away...This algebra was far more advanced than any I had when I was a year older than he...I finally closed the book and said, "Clint your in big trouble cause I have not got a clue as to where to even start"...Some how he got it and ended with a passing grade.
So read his paper here he does have some good ideas.....
Clint Sheets
HTM 291
3/2/2008
Restaurants and Nutrition
Contrary to current legislative debate over the issue, I do not believe that restaurants should be required to publicize their menu items nutritional values. This is completely ridiculous and is a perfect example of a radical liberal view that has become more and more common in the United States. That view is to always place the blame on someone else. If life hands you a lemon, no worries, just pitch it at the closest innocent bystander. Someone sues a marble company because the person was dumb enough to get a marble lodged in their nose, another sues a glue company for not mentioning on their label that the glue should not be eaten, and of course there is the infamous lady who sued McDonald’s after spilling coffee on herself because the coffee was, “too hot”. These absurd cases are no different than current lawsuits that have begun to come to surface from overweight individuals who are attempting to blame restaurants for their own obesity.
There is no question that obesity is a serious epidemic that continues to grow in the United States. 65% of Americans are considered overweight and 31% are considered overly obese. Obesity has serious consequences including the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, and many other health problems. Childhood obesity is growing rapidly and this is even scarier because the risks are even greater when obesity is present at an early age. Even though this is a major problem, it is unfair to place the blame on restaurants. Nutrition experts state that, “weight gain is caused by burning fewer calories than we consume.” The growth in childhood obesity is just as much a result of a lack of physical activity as it is unhealthy eating habits. The number of children walking or biking to school has dropped by 75 percent and almost a third of all high school students do not engage in physical activity.
The restaurant industry is not what is causing obesity. While many restaurants do serve high calorie items, it is ultimately the consumer’s decision to choose what they eat. Many restaurants have stepped up in recent years and offered healthier alternatives on their menus. In most cases these items are well advertised and reasonably priced. The ironic thing is that most of these items do not bring in profits anywhere close to the less healthy items. This is because many consumers are choosing the higher calorie items over the healthier options, knowing very well that they are not making the wisest choice. You cannot tell me that customers are completely oblivious to the idea that a Big Mac is a high calorie item. Adding full nutritional details next to each menu item will not contribute much to people making healthier choices. People will continue to seek comfort food for pleasure because bad habits are hard to break.
I believe it is a moral responsibility of restaurants to provide nutritional information in some form, but this does not need to be publicized next to menu items. Many restaurants, like Subway for example, provide nutritional information through other channels such as websites, napkins, and handouts. These channels along with the introduction of healthier alternatives on menus are a sufficient effort by restaurants to decrease obesity. Even after these measures were added, the obesity rate continues to grow at an average 2 pounds per year which illustrates my point that publication will not stop unhealthy habits. Listing nutritional information for every item on a menu will only cause aggravation for both restaurants and consumers. Health information will only clutter the menus, increase the number of menu pages, and take away the sense of escape that people seek when going out to eat. People do not seek to be educated when dining out. Increasing menu size will mean higher printing costs for restaurants, especially for restaurants that have constantly changing recipes. The cost to conduct a nutritional data analysis is another financial burden presented to restaurant companies, with an estimated cost of $1000 per menu item for analysis. This may not be as significant for large restaurant corporations, but for smaller companies this is back breaking.
The solution to decreasing obesity is not to slam restaurant companies with litigation as public interest groups in Washington may suggest. The solution is that people will have to make a choice to live healthier lifestyles. This means choosing healthier food items, eating smaller portions, and getting plenty of physical exercise. If public interest groups would spend less money lobbying congress to hit restaurants and spend more on school programs to educate the general public we may finally see this epidemic begin to subside.
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