Such a good idea, we made it mandatory

I once had a woman tell me that low carb diets can’t be healthy, because they allow you to eat bacon, but not an apple, and that was why she would never go on one. I pointed out to her that I had never seen her eat an apple, but I had seen her eat donuts and candy bars.
 
My brother owns a large vending business that operates hundreds of vending machines throughout the state. He says that customers constantly tell him that they want healthy foods in the vending machines. Every time he has stocked healthy foods, they sit in the machines and rot, while the chips, sodas, and candy continue to sell.

Grocery stores have the same problem, especially convenience stores. People generally buy foods that are easy to prepare and eat, stay fresh a long time, and taste good, and vegetables aren’t it.

Of course, that is not good enough for the city of Philadelphia. They are making the sale of certain government approved foods mandatory. If the idea is so good, people would do it without being forced. The government is saying that they know better than you, and will get you to make the right choices, by force if necessary.People should be able to make their own choices, even if that choice is one that you do not agree with.

The government doesn’t make choices based on what the facts are, they make them based on lobbying, and on money thrown around by lobbyists. Let’s face it, there is a lobby of people who advocate for fruits(pdf alert), so
they can sell more fruit. Where is the “no fruit” lobby? There isn’t
one, because no profits are there.The companies that produce foods like milk, fruits, and eggs pay government officials millions of dollars to lobby for their products. (incidentally, they also lobby in favor of illegal immigration)

In the past two years, however, groups such as the United Fresh Produce Association, the Western Growers Association, the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and the National Potato Council started to band together. Their goal: to make sure peaches, strawberries, limes and the like get a larger slice of the federal pie. This year’s farm bill will lay out more than $700 billion over the
next 10 years on programs including food stamps and commodity-based
payments.

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a sprawling 90-member coalition,
has been asking lawmakers to add to the bill a few billion dollars a
year in benefits. It is seeking not direct payments to its growers, but
rather indirect goodies such as block grants to states to help its
farmers locally, expanded funding for scientific research and enhanced
promotion of U.S.-grown produce abroad.

The idea that fruit is automatically healthy, simply because it is “natural” has no basis in science. If you look, many fruits have high amounts of carbohydrates, which are not good for people who are insulin resistant. The banana is 23% carbohydrates by weight. The main reason for pushing bananas is that they are low fat. Insulin resistant people, being less able to burn sugar for fuel, burn fat for fuel. (Fruits like avocados, 5% carbohydrates by weight, are healthier for insulin resistant individuals)

Now I am not saying that bananas are unhealthy  for everyone, just as I am saying that they are not always healthy for everyone. I am saying that there is no answer for all, and we should allow people to decide for themselves.