SF Supervisors order Happy Meals to go for good

On Tuesday the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to place new nutritional standards on food that comes with free toys, like Happy Meals. The ordinance would, outlaw Happy Meals and other fast food kids meals in their current form, within San Francisco limits. Mayor Gavin Newsom has promised to veto the measure, but Supervisors have enough votes to override the veto.

The measure is drawing fire from all over the country from people who don't like to be told what they can eat, or feed their kids. An opinion piece for the Philadelphia Libertarian Examiner has an interesting take. The author went as far as to call the people in charge of the Democratic Party "food fascists". McDonald's website says it serves "food to feel good about".

So what's the big deal? Supervisor and ordinance proposer Eric Mar wrote an op-ed piece for the U-S-A Today. The piece talks about the extreme calorie count found in fast food kids meals. It also says some of the "healthier options" aren't really healthy. He points to high sodium and sugar content as adding to the larger problem of this country's obesity epidemic.

Could the country's growing problem with fat kids be solely placed on the shoulders of Happy Meals? How much responsibility and control do parents have when it comes to controlling their kid's diets? Should the government focus on making healthy food more affordable and available to low income families? Will the new ordinance have any effect on what people feed their kids?