Now that they have banned smoking in restaurants, guess what's next?

[proud2BlibKansan]

House Committee: Public Health and Human Services*, Judiciary B

Principal Author: Mayhall
Additional Authors: Read, Shows

Title: 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.

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Oh, my God...!

Can you imagine a waitress saying to a customer, "I'm very sorry, sir; we can't serve you because you're too fat"? Or maybe, "I'm sorry, ma'am; I can't let you order the pecan pie. How about a nice serving of broccoli instead?"

Yikes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. LOL!!

[XboxWarrior]

17. Well, it's kinda like the Bar Maid Saying,

"Sir, you appear to be intoxicated, I can't serve you anymore"

Drunk Customer, "Well missy, that's exactly why I came here"

Bar Maid, "Security"!

[depakid]

31. "I'm very sorry, sir; we can't serve you because you're too fat"?

Truth is stranger than fiction:

'Hearty Eaters' Say Buffet Banned Them-'Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much,'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2575171

[kurth]

2. So Mississippi is gonna stamp 'OBESE' on people's foreheads or what?

Idiotic idea.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Probably mandatory tattoos

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Each chair will have a scale attached to it.

If you exceed a certain weight limit, a buzzer will sound as soon as you sit down and the manager will escort you out of the restaurant.

Somehow I don't think this legislation will play well at The Old Country Buffet.

[wake.up.america]

5. If a person is obese and is smoking in a restaurant, it doesn't bother me that she/he is fat. ..

unless she/he lunges over and grabs one of my croissants

[flvegan]

6. Which "CERTAIN" food establishments?

[AlCzervik]

12. here you go.

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.

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2008/html/HB/0200-0299/HB0282IN.htm

[flvegan]

18. Thanks. This is absolute bullshit.

I wonder when they'll invoke nutritional guidelines, like: "you can't serve shit food to people" or (raising the bar) "nobody can sell cigarettes to anyone who coughs.

Sounds kinda unConstitutional on its face as well.

[AlCzervik]

20. oh hey, 5 weeks meat and egg free. I have had some cheese though.

bp is down, i've lost 5 pounds and i feel better.

[flvegan]

36. It's hard for me

to not say...told ya so.

Seriously, congrats. Have your cheese time and again if you really, really want it.

[AlCzervik]

37. D00d, you're were so right, honest to gawd i do not miss bacon at all and you know that

was my problem meat. My husband made some last weekend and the smell was a big turnoff---i almost fell over from the shock of not wanting it.

[flvegan]

38. Wow, that was fast.

Normally, it takes the body a little time to learn to reject what is inherently bad for it yet has been fed to it for a while. Sounds like yours caught up quickly.

BTW, the further you get, the more disgusting it is.

Congrats again, both to you and your health.

[eyesroll]

21. It is likely facially unconstitutional.

(See my reply to you.)

"Obese" isn't a federally protected class--and I doubt size is protected in Mississippi--so the scrutiny of the law wouldn't be as strict as if the law said restaurants couldn't serve women or black people (or men or white people), but I think it still falls short.

[NV Whino]

23. Mmm, five or more seats

Gonna be a lot of people standing up eating. Betcha.

[AlCzervik]

24. roach coaches, we all need to buy them.

[NV Whino]

29. It's the moving to Mississippi part that I don't like.

Otherwise the roachcoaches are a good idea.

[AlCzervik]

30. well it won't take long to make enough money to move back out.

and have a whole bunch of cash leftover, i'm think 6 months tops.

[eyesroll]

19. According to the bill text...

"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."

Section 41-3-14(4)(f) applies to "cafes, restaurants, food or drink stands, sandwich manufacturing establishments, and all other establishments, other than churches, church-related and private schools, and other nonprofit or charitable organizations, where food or drink is regularly prepared, handled and served for pay<.>"

So...just about anything for-profit that's indoors and has seating.

Obese people will apparently still be able to eat at/from church, take-out-only places, ice-cream trucks, street vendors, and so forth.


Even if on the off chance this becomes law, it'll get shot down on constitutional grounds. It's discriminatory against a group of people without good reason (the bill doesn't articulate a reason), and even if the state said something like "obesity is a public health crisis that's costing the state money," they'd be hard pressed to show that keeping obese people out of sit-down restaurants will do anything to solve that.

[tularetom]

7. I've been to Mississippi - if they do this half the restaurants in the state

will go out of business.

[Wilms]

13. Stop exaggerating.

Only 30%. :D

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20060829/mississippi-tops-state-obesity-ranking

[gratuitous]

8. What's next?

A healthier working environment for restaurant staff?

What do I win?

[spacelady]

10. You could smell this one coming from a mile away. n/t

[msongs]

11. the choice to be obese does not poison other people in the room. this is not a great idea nt

[northzax]

25. neither does the presence of trans-fats

Or rare meat, but that's never stopped anyone. How come I can buy a fur coat in Chicago, but not fois gras? Never underestimate the willingness of people to fuck with other's lives in the name of good intentions. If I want something fried in lard in new York city, I have to break the law or drive to jersey? What's up with that?

[Dawggie]

14. LOL! That is so fucking funny!

This country is officially bonkers.

[margotb822]

15. What?!

This is ridiculous! Fat people need to eat, too. Maybe they should only serve salad and fruit...

And does this mean that supermarkets can't sell food to the obese?

j/k. But, this is pretty unreasonable.

[Richard D]

16. Even better . . .

. . . Rep. Mayhall is a member of the republic party!

[TahitiNut]

22. It'll bring a whole new meaning to "Fat-Free Restaurant"

... a sign posted right alongside "Smoke-Free Restauant" :puke:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. So Now The Ex-Smokers That Quit Cause They Couldn't Smoke Anywhere, That Gained Weight, Now STILL

can't eat there?

I swear, we just can't win LOL

[knitter4democracy]

27. Good thing it would be unconstitutional in Michigan.

Otherwise, we'd be in trouble.

We can't outlaw smoking in restaurants because of the way our constitution is worded. I would think this would apply as well.

[IDemo]

28. Shouldn't Starbucks then refrain from serving anxious customers?

It just makes sense, ya know.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. Exactly.

"Sorry, sir; no double espresso for you -- you're acting a little fidgety and your left eyelid is twitching. How about a nice decaf?"

[mac2]

33. Transfats?

[TreasonousBastard]

34. I still say...

don't ban them completely. Just have a Fat section next to the Smoking section.

Ban them from buffets, maybe, but perhaps a better idea is even smaller plates. There's already a problem with overfilled plates, so anything drips off the plate they have to eat off the floor,

Note that this topic has already been fully thrashed in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3165721

[LeftyMom]

35. No need for a ban, just write narrower doors into the building code.

:evilgrin:

[NV Whino]

40. Best answer I've hear yet.

[Historic NY]

39. how do they expect to sell the grand slam breakfast,.