(Was a) Deacon's Blog

Jimmy Blue posts a commentary at The Daily Evergreen regarding the recent decision by the NY City Board of Health that bans tans-fat from restaurants.

In my opinion his post nails the issue straight-on. Here’s an excerpt from Trans-fat ban neglects responsibility

More than a year ago, when the smoking ban was passed in Washington, I had mixed feelings. As a nonsmoker, I was first a proponent of the ban, I was tired of sitting in restaurants inhaling second-hand, cancer-causing, smoke. But I also realized the ban made things much more difficult for smokers and pushed smoking onto the streets and sidewalks where it still affected nonsmokers.

Today, I am unsure passing the smoking ban in Washington was the right choice. I would not be so unsure if Washington took the steps New York City has recently taken in banning the use of trans fats in all restaurants.

The New York City Board of Health voted last week to ban the use of artificial trans fats by restaurateurs in the hopes of promoting healthier eating. This is a problem for restaurants as well as people who oppose restrictions on their rights. I am in favor of helping those in need, but a ban on certain foods seems ridiculous.

There is a fine line to government intervention in the marketplace.

For instance, your ‘right’ to drive is not a right at all, but a government privilege. Government can and does restrict what you are able to do with and in a car. For example, you cannot use a cell phone while driving, you must wear a seatbelt, you must drive the posted speed, you must be licensed, you cannot use your car as a hammock when you’re out getting drunk. These are all well and good and provide for the safety of everyone.

As to smoking, well I’m happy because I don’t have to sit in a cloud in a restaurant, bar, or at work. Other people’s enjoyment ruins my enjoyment, my clothes, and my health. I shouldn’t be forced to smoke if I do not wish to smoke, and no, you cannot create an effective, efficient, or perfect smoking/non-smoking divide in any building.

Never-the-less, there must be limits to the government’s regulation of our lives. I would also agree that government is wont to go too far. Government bans related to food products (no we’re not baking pot brownies – but why should that be a problem either) are repugnant to responsible freedom.

Banning trans-fat, pate, foie gras, szmalec* or any other item from a menu is utterly invasive. It passes into the realm of government meddling and control in areas where government has no business. Can these things be bad for you – sure, as can beer, wine, eggs, red meat, fish, pie with a crust made from lard, or escargot if you eat them every day non-stop. If you’re shoving down 50 Twinkies a day there’s nothing government can do to help you.

Where government can be effective in in the area of education. With knowledge and appropriate consumer awareness (look at the massive decrease in the number of smokers – and it’s not because you can’t smoke at the local bowing alley) the market will regulate itself. Unfortunately, we as Americans want the quick fix and the short-cut. Pass a law and we think the problem will miraculously disappear (like we’re all so law abiding). Rather, invasive and nonsensical laws will end like prohibition, with the majority ignoring such laws.

As Christians we are taught (or should have been taught) to be stewards of the earth. We are given the earth’s gifts for our benefit and enjoyment. We are also commanded not to kill (that includes killing yourself). With Christian awareness and an appropriate education we can indulge once-and-a-while without tending to an unhealthy lifestyle.

I’ll enjoy a cigar once in a blue-clouded moon, drink a few too make vodka shots, eat the charred fat off my steak, and slather my Polish rye with szmalec. For dessert I’ll down a Dunkin’ Donut saturated with trans-fat plastics. In the end I’ll enjoy them and I’ll enjoy them responsibly. That’s part of the richness of God’s gifts, and God’s requirement that we be responsible, i.e., stewards, of what we have been given – and that is an area that government has no business regulating.

Szmalec is a type of Polish lard created from rendered pork fat. Homemade szmalec is typically imbued with pork cracklings, chopped and fried onion, marjoram, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It is a classic peasant dish typically used as a substitute for the ‘rich man’s butter’ and is spread on bread. Approx. equal to one month’s supply of cholesterol on a single slice of bread. My pastor notes that szmalec and bread were the daily ration for seminarians in Poland during the dark days of communist oppression.