Banned Persuasive Speech

Brandon R. clark Part of the freedoms of being an American is the ability to decide your own path in life including obesity. When the government interferes with one’s ability to consume beverages either artificially sweetened or naturally sweetened, part of what our nation was based on has been violated. That is what the New York City Health Department did with their experiment against anti-obesity. The ban would prevent retailers from selling sweetened beverages in containers larger than 16 oz. I do not support such ban because I believe in personal choice and the freedom to be an independent thinker. In this report, I will indicate the benefits of my decisions and the negative consequences to retailers and consumers.

In the first article, written by Alice Park, published 9/13/12, “Goodbye, Big Soda: New York Becomes First City to Ban Large-Sized Soft Drinks”, the author cites that New York would become the first city in the nation to ban the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16 oz.

The ban would affect restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters. The ban would also affect grocery stores and convenience stores which sells “jumbo” sized soft drinks. The main focus of this ban was presented by Michael Bloomberg in his attempt to decrease the amount of people from becoming obese. In his ten years prior to the ban, Michael Bloomberg required chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus to inform their customers. The mayor’s focus is to target adults and children from “preventative” obesity. In support of his ban, there is evidence (data) proving sugary drinks contribute to the obesity epidemic.

(Park).
In the article by Stephanie Rosenbloom, “Calorie Data to be Posted at Most Chains”, published March 23, 2010, a healthcare legislation that President Obama signed would require large restaurant chains to put food calorie information on their menus. Americans would soon know a Big Mac from McDonald’s contains over 500 calories (Rosenbloom). The legislation also states that items in vending machines require calorie labels on all food. Those in support of the legislation feel that people need to make better informed choices. That most of the time, individuals eat outside of the home, they eat poorly and aren’t concerned with their calorie intake.
In the graph, titled “I want you to slim down”, the illustrator suggests Uncle Sam (The US Government), wants Americans to choose better drinks and food they consume. In this illustration, “Uncle Sam” is pointing his finger to an obese teenage boy eating an ice cream cone. (Pletcher). This article refers that every person who is overweight chooses the wrong food to consume and should not be eating ice cream which has little dietary values. What this picture does not address is that, obesity is not always caused by poor food choices but lack of proper food intake, appropriate enough of water consumption and heredity issues.
To conclude, the Authors of each articles/ graphs indicate that the government wants to inform American’s into making better food choices; however; neither of the articles focus on personal choice or that there might be a medical cause for someone’s obesity. American’s are overweight compared to other countries but for many it’s by personal choice or medically induced. The articles fail to address that as American’s, we have a right to be educated about making better food choices but ultimately it is one’s right to decide. It’s one of our basic rights as American’s.