Federal government, get out of my shopping cart!

I like to do things that are bad for me.

I like to play golf without sun screen. I like movies without an educational or moral message. I like barbecued hamburgers. I like the occasional sip of well-aged Scotch. I like the refreshing taste of an ice cold Coca-Cola on a summer day.

I believe I have the freedom to choose to indulge in bad things. I know there are better choices, but these are what I want.

Knowing the fat content of the hamburger and the rumored cancer causing potential of food cooked over an open fire, I still choose to eat them. It’s my body. My choice.

I am free. I should be able to decide for myself when faced with a potentially bad food decision. The government should stay out of it.

I do not need a mandated nutrition list to know a triple-patty cheeseburger has too many calories for me. The same goes for the super-duper sized French fries or half gallon of ice cream.

What troubles me more than the results of my bad decisions, is having some stranger tell me I can’t choose them again or I will be fined for it. I know some foods are bad for me and I know what ones are good. But, it is my decision to make.

Until a few years ago, there was an expectation of freedom and individual responsibility in what and how much we eat.

Things change. Now there are groups of arrogant people taking it upon themselves to control what we eat. If they cannot change your mind through scare tactics or deceitful tugs at our emotions, they work to have the government decide for us.

PETA can try as hard as they can to convert me into a vegan, but it won’t work. If I look at it from a Christian standpoint, God gave us animals to eat. From a scientific standpoint, I am an omnivore and my teeth confirm the ability to eat meat and vegetables.

It seems fairly obvious sugar should be eaten in moderation. Every grandmother has warned children of eating too much candy. During the last decade, education about diabetes provided further reason to watch how much we consume. But do we need the federal government to limit how much pop we drink?

Three men think we do. They decided the federal government needs to tax soft drinks to reduce public consumption by 13 percent. In their opinions, America is fat because we drink too much pop. One is a director from the University of North Carolina’s obesity center, one is a director from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, and the last is the New York  City Health commissioner.

Sure. Pop is the only reason Americans get fat. (Note: This is sarcasm.)

The Congressional Budget Office  estimated the federal government could generate $6 billion annually by adding a 3 cent tax on every 12 ounce soft drink.

Will Congress decide by weighing our freedom to choose Coke or Pepsi versus public health? Or will Congress base their decision on finding a new tax revenue?

We know too much sugar is a bad thing. What we don’t need is the government being a factor in our decision. We do not need to be fined because we choose to have a pop at the Fourth of July barbecue.

I agree 3 cents isn’t much, but it is the principal. I do not wish to be forced into living someone else’s ideals on such a minute level. I do not need a stranger sitting in my shopping cart, telling me what I can eat or drink.

There are much better causes to focus on. Shouldn’t we worry about insuring all children are fed before worrying about someone enjoying the entertainment of a pop? 

Bill Stevenson is the Columbia Basin Herald managing editor. He has a small refrigerator in his office to keep his water and soft drinks cold.

My Turn is a column for the reporters to offer opinions and reflections about life. News staff take turns writing the column, leading to its name. It is published every Monday.