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Alameda Supes Try to Tackle The Evil Oreo DEBRA J. SAUNDERS |
Tuesday, February 9, 1999
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BIG MOTHER lives. Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan has asked the county counsel to look into drafting a law that would prohibit the county from buying food made by subsidiary companies of tobacco firms. In short: an Oreo ban at county jails, hospitals, vending machines and snack stands. Ooooooh, the evil Oreo. Next they'll ban milk, to punish dairy producers for county health-care costs associated with high cholesterol. It's odd. Americans say they want the government out of their private lives and reproductive decisions. Still, the Alameda supes feel entitled to tell people what they can put in their stomachs. They believe it's their job to dictate what people can buy for their personal consumption in county buildings. Chan and Supervisor Keith Carson also are interested in refusing to license businesses that sell cigarettes in unincorporated areas and divesting city pension funds of tobacco stocks. They're waiting for the county counsel to draft an ordinance and make recommendations about the legalities of the three anti-tobacco moves. Their justification? Alameda County estimates its annual Medi-Cal expenditure on smoking related illnesses is $74.5 million. Why give any related companies any profit? Chan told The Chronicle, ``I think these three actions would send a very strong message to the tobacco industry and people locally who sell tobacco products that we're very, very serious in cutting down on teen smoking.'' No, that shows that you're very, very rabid against smoking. It shows you're unreasonable. And not necessarily effective. If the supes want county government to stop teen smoking, they should stick to enforcing present law. They can prosecute owners of stores that sell to minors. The supes also are looking into ways to educate small retailers about not selling to teens. That's good. That's actually their job. They can stop teens from buying cigarettes, so that the only kids who smoke are those whose parents buy them smokes. (In which cases, teen smoking is none of the supes' business.) Alas, the savvy pol these days understands that more glory is be found from symbolism than results. If the supes wanted results, they'd go after a public phenomenon that kills teens now -- like crime -- not something that conceivably might kill them decades later. Ah, but if you want to look like you really care, you have to kick the tobacco companies. If you can't kick Big Smoke, kick Fig Newtons. Kick Oreos. Kick SnackWells. Food guilt by association. Does it matter if Oreos don't cause lung cancer? Does it matter if, say, a boycott means some poor cookie-factory schlepps lose their jobs? Hell, no. What matters is how good people feel when they call for boycotts. Or does it matter if county workers can't buy an Oreo cookie at a vending machine or patients can't get Oreos in county facilities? Not if you're not a county worker or patient, I suppose. So smile and go with the flow. It's good to have the government tell people what food they can buy where -- because the supes mean well. Hey, county workers should be grateful that the supes are doing their shopping decisions for them. Right? You'd think the supes would have better things to do than shop for foods with unwholesome associations. Apparently, Chan doesn't think so. The supes run the county so well they can move on to grocery shopping. Supervisor Scott Haggerty doesn't support the Chan plan. He too wants to stop teen smoking, but doesn't think banning macaroni and cheese is the ticket. He believes that you can find problems with lots of big companies. ``I think the focus for our children has to be, `Don't smoke,' '' Haggerty said, ``not `Don't eat Oreos.' '' |
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