By Glenn Mueller
Senior Writer/Editor
Big Brother is watching you! And if you happen to live in Southern Los Angeles, he is also keeping a close eye on the restaurants in your neighborhood.
The City Council in Los Angeles unanimously voted to place a halt on the development of new fast food restaurants in areas of Southern and Southeast Los Angeles. The moratorium would affect a 32-square-mile region of the city with about 500,000 residents.
Many of the residents of South Los Angeles don't own cars, so they have limited access to fresh, healthy food. The ruling is intended to help attract healthier restaurants to this part of the city and give city planners enough time to analyze the current development trends.
According to statistics from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, a full 30 percent of adults currently living in South Los Angeles are obese -- as compared to just over 19 percent for the metropolitan area of the city and about 14 percent for the Westside. Furthermore, 73 percent of the restaurants currently in South Los Angeles are fast-food eateries -- as compared to only 42 percent of the restaurants in West Los Angeles. South L.A. also has fewer grocery stores than the rest of the city, according to the Los Angeles Times.
For the purposes of this piece of legislation, council members have defined fast-food restaurants as "those that do not offer table service and provide a limited menu of pre-prepared or quickly heated food in disposable wrapping." Casual dining restaurants such as Subway and El Pollo Loco are exempt from the moratorium. The legislation also wouldn't affect fast-food restaurants currently open in South L.A., though it would make it difficult for them to expand or remodel during the coming year.
But the moratorium isn't official yet. The mayor still has to sign it into law, and it is expected there will be legal opposition from the California Restaurant Association. Representatives from the fast-food chains say they are being unfairly targeted. Plus, they argue, today's fast-food restaurants do offer plenty of healthy items on their menus.
Whatever happens, it is likely that this piece of legislation could set a precedent.
So do you think it's fair for the government to ban fast food? Share your opinion by commenting below.
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Comment: Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:21:00 AM - 
Yuri | EatingforEnergy.ca said...
Good for them! Is Arnold behind this?
Why should fast food restaurants be allowed to continue to destroy the life of our citizens anyways?
As far as I'm concerned, they're "food terrorists"!
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 6:39:00 AM - 
lyndylou said...
The trouble with today's mindset in America comes from forgetting why we live in America--FREEDOM!!!! That freedom extends, yes, even to what we chose to eat. NO ONE is forcing us to eat anything, good, bad, or otherwise, here in America. We don't have to chose "bad" foods, but we should have the choice, the freedom to choose it. I say let anyone open anything they want in America; you don't HAVE to chose it.
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:03:00 AM - said...
Well, it's about time somebody did something about the junk that restaurants are calling "food" these days! I also think that any new sandwiches being created by the big fast food restaurants in our country should have restrictions placed on the amount of calories and fat they can include!
Have you seen the commercials for one of them that serves a combo meal of bread sticks w/dipping sauce, pizza, and some type of sweet stick with chocolate dipping sauce?!!!
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:10:00 AM - said...
I'm not a smoker, don't eat fast food but first we're regulated on where we can smoke, now what we can eat. What's next? We'll soon be living in a totally socialist society, I thought the US was a democratic society. This is just the beginning of the government telling us what to do, how to live in every aspect of our lives.
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:51:00 AM - said...
Good grief! Does our government have to CONTROL everything in the good ole U.S.A? As a citizen of a "FREE" country we are given the FREEDOM to choose where we eat and what we eat. I don't live in a communistic or socialistic country, nor would I like to. The government needs to stay out of the American's lives and let us continue to have choices whether it is good or bad according to the health Nazis. And no, I do not eat at most fast food restaurants and I am NOT over weight, but that is MY choice. We choose our OWN paths!!!
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:51:00 AM - said...
It is all a conspiracy. No one wants Americans to lose weight or get healthy. If they did then fresh fruits and veggies and foods without artificial perservatives, loads of sugar, salt would be cheaper than a double cheese burger and fries. Bottom line though this is America and we are free to chose
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:53:00 AM - said...
Good grief! Does our government have to CONTROL everything in the good ole U.S.A? As a citizen of a "FREE" country we are given the FREEDOM to choose where we eat and what we eat. I don't live in a communistic or socialistic country, nor would I like to. The government needs to stay out of the American's lives and let us continue to have choices whether it is good or bad according to the health Nazis. And no, I do not eat at most fast food restaurants and I am NOT over weight, but that is MY choice. We choose our OWN paths!!!
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:00:00 AM - said...
I wouldn't trust the LA City Council to regulate anything. Now they want to tell the poor folks of south and southeast LA (formerly known as south-central LA) what they can and cannot eat. (They thought changing the name/referenhce would change things there, too, but it hasn't.) It's a high risk area. Do they think fine dining is going to move in? The Asians, who will take a high business risk, all moved out the last time they burned down the neighborhood. And how are Pollo Loco and Subway exempt from the fast food classification? It sounds like they exempted just the fast foods they like. It's all casual dining, isn't it? What if some aspiring immigrant wants to open another taco stand - no seating. This group of public oficials is a corrupt bunch of morons (they're public figures. I can say this.) But the people of LA keep electing morons, as if they really cared. Fortunatley, it's only a moratorium. It will go away in due time.
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:29:00 PM - said...
I think it's great! We have way to many fast food restaurants and it doesn't help people to make healthy choices.
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:43:00 PM - said...
Building and opening of new business has ALWAYS been regulated by city government. They never let new builds be zoned etc. without approval from a city council, zoning commission, and so on. It is about time they did something in the interest of the people who liver there instead of working in the interest of business and fattening their own wallets. It is a sad reality that in most poor urban areas fresh fruits and vegtables aren't available at all let alone being more expensive. Their effort to balance what is opened in the community is a right they've always had and I'm glad to see they're doing something worthwhile with it.
Comment: Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:36:00 PM - said...
I don't think this is the government becoming fascist (although I could find 101 other ways why I think it is) but I don't think banning new fast food restaurants from opening really constitutes that. I mean, really, in my town, there are 3 Starbucks within a one mile radius of each other, 2 McDonald's on the same street, and now there is a second Burger King being built not 5 minutes from where the existing one is... Is that so necessary?! There is no where in this country that NEEDS more fast food restaurants. I agree, people have the choice to eat horrible food, go nuts, but it's so easily accessible that opening any more new restaurants is just ludicrous.
Comment: Friday, August 15, 2008 9:38:00 AM - said...
Personally, I'm really sick of the govt. stepping in and taking away our choices and our freedoms,and I'm sick of Americans failing to take personal responsibility for themselves. I fear allowing this would open a HUGE can of worms and would just be the start. What's next? Ban taverns and bars? Ban stores from selling tobacco? Ban restaurants from serving sugary soft drinks and desserts? Install sprayers in people's houses to automatically spray them down with sunscreen each morning because they can't be responsible enough themselves to do what's right for themselves? Give me a break!
Comment: Friday, August 15, 2008 4:34:00 PM - said...
As bad as fast food is, we do live in a free country and should be allowed to choose what and where we eat. So much of our free choice is slowly being taken away from us - one step at a time. The city could encourage healthy choice restaurants to open in that area by possibly offering some sort of tax incentive. Ad campaigns that educate the public on healthy food choices could also be an option.
Comment: Friday, August 22, 2008 9:15:00 PM - said...
I think everyone's missing the point here. It's not about shutting down every fast food restaurant in the country and force feeding the citizens salads and fruits for the rest of their lives. It's about the unnecessary building of more and more restaurants when it's already so easily accessible. How many McDonald's do you pass to and from work? How many pizza shops, bagel shops, taco stands...? Seriously, it is just ridiculous to continue building more and more fast food restaurants. There's hundreds of thousands of them in the country. If you want it- You can have it! no one's stopping you, there's just no need for more to continue opening.
Comment: Thursday, August 28, 2008 10:54:00 AM - said...
this is absurd;we as Human being have the ability to make choices. I'm not a fast food advocate, just have sense to stay away from fast food. How can the government be involved in deciding what we eat? I think there are more important issues that the government should be involved in....how about ending the war??????
Comment: Thursday, September 04, 2008 9:33:00 AM - said...
If people can't get control of their eating and smoking habits, and keep putting a strain on our health systems, what would all you naysayers suggest? What about the school system......my grandson eats hamburgers, chicken nuggets, and pizza on a weekly basis at his school.....his Mom feeds him healthy meals at home, and then the school blows his whole healthy diet.....get on the band wagon school system......I could go on and on.....bottom line...why wouldn't people want to live a healthy lifestyle, someone somewhere has to do something to change this downward spiral of people doing whatever they want without consequences....over do on anything, and it comes back to bite you on your big butt....and what about the so called healthy foods the fast food places are offering.....have you read the fat content on those salads and salad dressings....pleeeez...what a joke
Comment: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:40:00 PM - said...
this is a temporary break people, so that citizens can weigh in on what places and amenities they want to be included in their neighborhoods. Parks, farmer's markets, community gardens, interurban trails... these things add value. So do small markets and community centers. The government isn't going to ban any fastfood... it is OWNED by corporations. This isn't the big bad gov't stepping in on the poor people. This is people USING democracy to improve the lives of themselves and others in their own communities.
Comment: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:49:00 PM - said...
Also, in these poor communities, there are undoubtedly many minorities (who are at an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes).
Wouldn't it be better to make it somewhat easier for them to make good nutritional choices.
Or do you want to continue to pay ever increasing health care costs for people too poor to pay for health care.
A moratorium is a break, not a ban.
Comment: Thursday, September 04, 2008 9:45:00 PM - said...
As the manager of a "Quick Service" restaurant some of the comments I have read disturb me a bit.
But I will stick to voicing my own opinions for what they are worth.
I DO believe that over saturation of "Quick Service" restaurants is deplorable. I do agree that most the foods served in them is ticket to obesity when consumed on a regular basis. But in a society and economy that forces most families to spend more time making money just to get by, working longer hours, with further commutes, sometimes multiple jobs, some people don't feel they have a choice but to resort to inexpensive and quick meals. This happens especially in poorer areas where it can be a choice of fast food or feeding the kids a home cooked meal, at twice the expense, at 9:00 pm.
And it is NOT just fast food restaurants. Take a walk down just about any grocery store isle. You will find that the least expensive, quick to fix, foods are almost always loaded with sugar, sodium, fats etc... all those nice things that are so good for all of us to eat.
One thing that the "Quick Service" restaurants DO provide is employment. Yea, so there is nothing glorious about flipping burgers, serving ice cream or, especially, taking the verbal and emotion beating that a lot of tired, overworked, underpaid and underappreciated customers like to dish out to these people just trying to make a living. But it provides an income to the young person trying to pay for college, the single parent doing their best to raise their children, the student working to help their family pay the bills.
Americans for the most part have a choice to eat in many places, they have a choice as to what they have with that kids meal (would you like applesauce or fries with that? "Applesauce is too messy")They have the choice as to what they have on that salad and what kind, if any, dressing. I, nor anyone one my crew, have ever asked a customer if they would like an extra patty on the already heart threatening 1/2 lb burger they are ordering but you would be surprised (or maybe not) at the people that do! My crew cringes everytime they get an order that requires them to ring in or make and order that wants to up size, or put extra, extra mayo while removing the vegetables.
Americans are making choices for themselves, maybe because so many choices are taken out of their hands and they wish to have control over at least one choice, even if it is not a healthy one.
Fast food is NOT the enemy. Take it to those that decide that the makings for a salad at home should cost the almost the same as buying 2-3 meals in a Quick service establishment. Or an economy that requires so many households to work 3 jobs just to pay a mortgage and utilties.
Comment: Thursday, September 18, 2008 9:55:00 AM - said...
I believe everyone has the right to decide for themselves what to eat and how much to eat. However, I do have difficulty when I have to pay more taxes to cover healthcare costs for those who have difficulty making lifestyle decisions for themselves which could decrease their healthcare needs, not increase their need. I am all for restaurants being required to post calorie levels on all menu items. This allows an individual the freedom to judge for themselves whether they want to put that food with those calories into their body.
Comment: Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:23:00 AM - said...
Wow! The government is going to stop fast food resturants. Get a Grip! Gov approves all business openings, remodels, etc. but this sounds just like PR to show gov is going to "help" us.
Or maybe the gov thinks the people of that area of LA are too stupid to make any choices for themselves.
The reason there aren't many grocery store with the fresh stuff is: 1)store can't get insurance,2) the people weren't buying from the last guy, he left & the $$$ isn't there for anyone else to open a fresh market. If a market could make $$$ there, the store would be open yesterday.
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