You Can't Force People to Value "Health"

Over on the LRC blog, Karen De Coster wrote a post covering the news that Los Angeles authorities are going to ban the opening of new fast food restaurants within a 32-square-mile area of the city.

Karen then pointed out that:

"Obesity and the non-upkeep of one's body and/or health is the preference for immediate satisfaction as opposed to long-term maintenance, good looks, and good health. It is a choice. Greasy burger now .... umm good .... consequences later. "Later" means one can assign the ill effects of a choice to some point out in the future and convince themselves that later will never really come (or they won't really notice it), because it's not right now. Obesity is a time preference issue. The greasy burger tastes good now, and people with high time preferences care about right now - not later."

I think she makes a great point, and I'd like to add a few of my own thoughts on this issue.

First, each individual values his/her health in a different way. Some people take exquisite care of themselves...some not so much...and others can literally care less.

It's a choice.

In the marketplace, restaurants do their best to satisfy consumer desires. If a neighborhood contains a bunch fast-food restaurants, it's an indication that this is the type of food that is desired most. After all, if consumers were the ones who had a problem with fast-food places, they'd stop patronizing them and the restaurants would go out of business. Unfortunately, it is not the customers who have the problem, but the social engineers. The social engineers would like to force people to value healthier foods.

That's not going to happen.

If someone doesn't value healthier foods, no law will make it so. That individual will just find another way finding a supply of the food he/she desires. Perhaps he/she will go 32 miles out and "stock up" on chicken nuggets and bring them home to store in the freezer. Or maybe he or she will buy their unhealthy food at the supermarket, or convenience store. The point is, people cannot be forced into valuing anything.

I believe fast-food places serve a very valuable purpose. They provide cheap (and tasty) food, with very little wait time. Many times I've been out on the road, and places like McDonald's were there to supply exactly what I wanted. Perhaps I didn't have the time (or the funds) to sit down in a more expensive place for a full-course meal.

But what if the more expensive sit-down place was my only option? I would have been out of luck.

From the looks of it, lots of people in Los Angeles are going to have to expend more time and energy to get the food that they really want.