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No food for Fatty
Bill Would Bar Feeding Obese
Associated Press
February 5, 2008
A Mississippi state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don't be offended.
He says he never expected his plan to become law.
"I was trying to shed a little light on the No. 1 problem in Mississippi," said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that, at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he'd probably have a tough time under his own bill.
More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi are considered obese, according to a 2007 study by the Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.
Democrat Steve Holland of Plantersville, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, said he is going to "shred" the bill.
The bill had no specifics about how obesity would be defined, or how restaurants were supposed to determine if a customer was obese.
Al Stamps said it is "absurd" for the state to consider telling him which customers he can't serve.
He and his wife, Kim, do a bustling lunch business at Cool Al's in Jackson, which serves big burgers — beef or veggie — and specialty foods like "Sassy Momma Sweet Potato Fries."
Associated Press
February 5, 2008
A Mississippi state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don't be offended.
He says he never expected his plan to become law.
"I was trying to shed a little light on the No. 1 problem in Mississippi," said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that, at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he'd probably have a tough time under his own bill.
More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi are considered obese, according to a 2007 study by the Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.
Democrat Steve Holland of Plantersville, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, said he is going to "shred" the bill.
The bill had no specifics about how obesity would be defined, or how restaurants were supposed to determine if a customer was obese.
Al Stamps said it is "absurd" for the state to consider telling him which customers he can't serve.
He and his wife, Kim, do a bustling lunch business at Cool Al's in Jackson, which serves big burgers — beef or veggie — and specialty foods like "Sassy Momma Sweet Potato Fries."