Mississippi bill makes it illegal to serve food to the obese

[ariesallover]

Dumb Bitches Of The Day




Meet Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. These three idiots are members of Mississippi's House of Representatives and came up with one of the dumbest bills in history. They are proposing a bill that will make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese people. That means anybody with a [COLOR=#FF00FF ! important][COLOR=#FF00FF ! important]BMI[/color][/color] of 30 or above won't be able to eat with everybody else. This is a problem since 30% of the state is considered obese.


The two page document states that any restaurant that breaks the law could get their license pulled.


Click here to read the documents.


Obviously these three twits don't have anything better to do. Don't they have some tap dancing to do in an airport restroom somewhere?
Source: The Smoking Gun


Dumb Bitches Of The Day | Dlisted

Mississippi Pols Seek To Ban Fats

New bill would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese

FEBRUARY 1--Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you'll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state's House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state's Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with Mississippi's Council on Obesity. It does not detail what penalties an eatery would face if its grub was served to someone with an excessive body mass index. (2 pages)




Mississippi Pols Seek To Ban Fats - February 1, 2008

[ariesallover]

No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!


It has actually happened. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors areBobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

The full text reads:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282

An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health; to direct the department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provisions of this act; and for related purposes. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi:

SECTION 1.
(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

Should this pass, scales will appear at the door of restaurants, people with BMIs of 30 or higher won’t be allowed to be served. And to comply with government regulations, restaurants will have to keep records of patrons' BMIs.

Is this a tongue-in-cheek bill, meant to point out how absurd the war on obesity has become? Or do lawmakers actually believe the myths that gluttony is the cause for obesity and that it is the government’s role to force people to eat and live how it deems best?

I called lead author, Rep. Mayhall, and asked if this was serious legislation or tongue-in-cheek to make a point. He kindly took a moment to answer my question while the legislature was in session. He said that while, regrettably, he doesn’t believe his bill will pass, this is serious. He wrote it, he said, because of the “urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action.” He hopes it will “call attention to the serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system.”

So, yes, this is for real and these elected officials actually believe this stuff.

The time is now for all Americans who value their freedom to eat, look, breathe and live their lives how they choose to unite!



Junkfood Science: No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!

[tee-ha-ha]

...and restaurants across Mississippi will go broke by summer. Mississippi is one of the fattest states in the country.

[McJag]

It looks like none of them will be served either..

[Aella]

^Ha, McJag, my thoughts too!

And I'm sure this will work splendidly, and obese people will get healthy overnight, being kept away from the bad restaurant food and at home, no doubt snacking on celery and grilled turkey breast. If it weren't for those damn restaurants!

[Fluffy]

Perhaps they should outlaw deep frying instead. That'd do a lot more for everyone's health.

OR

Outlaw ridiculous portions. I was in Mississippi a couple of years ago and went to an ice cream parlor. A "single scoop" was literally a fucking bowl on a cone.

[celeb_2006]

Perhaps they should outlaw deep frying instead. That'd do a lot more for everyone's health.

OR

Outlaw ridiculous portions. I was in Mississippi a couple of years ago and went to an ice cream parlor. A "single scoop" was literally a fucking bowl on a cone.

I think the biggest issue with obesity is portions, period. Sure trans fat and sugars and whatnot are bad but the contrast in portions served in the U.S. to those of other countries are striking (though I think the world is rapidly catching up). I have been so conditioned to stuffing myself and overeating since youth that it is a hard habit to break. Cleaning your plate no matter what is a given. A super big gulp from 7-11 is big enough for 10 people in another country.

[southernbelle]

It's not up to the government to regulate what people are eating if they're too stupid/gluttonous to control themselves in the presence of food.

I believe passing a law like this would lead to thousands of lawsuits from people who felt "humiliated" when they were weighed and then denied service at a restaurant in front of their friends and/or families.

I'm also not in favor of outlawing deep fried or other fattening foods. That's just punishing everyone because some people can't control themselves (like taking coke machines out of schools). I'm not obese and I want to be able to enjoy certain treats on occasion.

I think the best solution is just to really emphasize proper nutrition and make people aware of the dangers of an unhealthy diet. If obese people don't want to change their eating habits for their own health, fine. Not our problem. Don't go out of your way to punish them for it (weighing in at a restaurant), but don't go out of your way to help them, either... or punish everyone else in the hopes that it will force them to get their shit together (banning "problem" foods).

[DitaPage*]

Wow, I didn't think that would ever be possible!

[LynnieD]

Along the same lines, though slightly off topic; there is a grocery chain in this area that is no longer selling cigarettes. They feel it is contributing to the downfall of the health of this country and decided to stop selling them.
I don't smoke, so it doesn't effect me at all and I truly don't care either way.

HOWEVER, WHERE DOES IT STOP?? How long till they stop selling fatty/salty foods for the same reason? Or booze? Or blah blah blah??? How long?

This shit ain't right I tell you.

[Fluffy]

^ I agree! Although, if fruits and vegetables were cheaper, I think more people would buy them and we would have less of a weight/health problem than we do now.

[DitaPage*]

^Exactly. The healthier food is the most expensive!

[MissDecember]

My question is, how would they determine who was obese and who wasn't? With calipers? This leaves way too much opportunity for a bitchy, spiteful waitress to take out her frustrations on slightly zaftig or even average-weighted women by claiming they were obese. Sounds absurd but I could totally see it happening.

[celeb_2006]

^ I agree! Although, if fruits and vegetables were cheaper, I think more people would buy them and we would have less of a weight/health problem than we do now.

I wouldn't. Unless we're talking astronomical differences in prices between junk food and fruits/veggies, no one's coming between my snickers bar and a lowly piece of apple.

[bellini]

I'm wondering what restaurant owners think of this? Sure the all you can eat places must be happy...but the others must be pissed.

How will they monitor this anyway? Have everyone weigh before they can be seated? Incredibly stupid.