Sliced Apples

It seems that our Mayor Dearest’s penchant for controlling what we eat  has now come to the attention of the NY Times.   Kim Severson has written an article  that politely talks about some of the same things that I’ve been not so politely complaining about.
Here is a quote from her article: “From the start, Mayor Bloomberg muscled his way into the city’s restaurants on a health platform. He banned smoking in bars and small restaurants. (Lighting up in restaurants with more than 35 seats had already been outlawed.) More recently, he shot down trans fat, forced large restaurant chains to post calorie counts and took on a cutting-edge culinary technique called sous vide.”
At first glance, it seems that the mayor has our welfare at heart, but if you really look at the reality of what is going on, it’s a little bit like he’s been throwing out the baby with the bath water.
“He shot down trans fat”.  So what really happened is that restaurants are now scrambling to replace all natural butter with saturated fat oils.  Yes, trans fats are bad, but to ban naturally occurring trans fat, required more research and discipline than the city may have wanted to do.
“Posting calorie counts” OK, knowing how many calories there are in a triple Burger King burger is a good thing. But, please don’t extend this to small restaurants or they will not ever be able to offer you another daily special.
“Cutting edge culinary technique called sous vide”.  The sous vide technique has been in use since the end of WWII, so its not exactly cutting edge.  Again, research and discipline are necessary to fully understand the situation, not a knee jerk reaction.
The Healthy Bodegas initiative is interesting, but apparently under funded. 
I’m not advocating that we do nothing about obesity and diabetes, but I am advocating that if the city if going to get involved, that they do so in a knowledgeable and practical manner, not just a bid for headlines.
P.S. Someone should tell the Mayor that pre-sliced apples in a little plastic bag are just not appealing.  A local apple, fragrant, shiny, crunchy, eaten in season, will sell itself.