Food Freedom?

The Center for Consumer Freedom wants you to know.

Far too few Americans remember that the Founding Fathers, authors of modern liberty, greatly enjoyed their food and drink -- from drafting the Declaration of Independence over pints to serving French fries in the White House. Now it seems that food liberty -- just one of the many important areas of personal choice fought for by the original American patriots -- is constantly under attack. Don't let the tyrants rule your food choices -- this Fourth of July, remember your food freedoms, and sign our Declaration of Food Independence.

Paul Krugman wants you to know that

The Center for Consumer Freedom [is] financed by Coca-Cola, Wendy's and Tyson Foods. …

According to a study recently published in the journal Health Affairs, the extra costs associated with caring for the obese rose from 2 percent of total private insurance spending in 1987 to 11.6 percent in 2002.

So even though we are getting better at reducing the risk of mortality associated with weight gain, it's costing us lots of money.

You should also know that the Center for Consumer Freedom makes fun of Peta and other animal rights groups, which they call lunatic fringe. In an article on an attempt to give pregnant sows in Florida enough room to turn around, they quoted a Florida state Senator as follows.

Senator King put it all in perspective last week in The Tallahassee Democrat: "I went to the proponents and asked why, and they said, 'Well, we want the sows to be able to turn around,' and my first thought was, 'To see what?' Is it any different for a pig, looking behind or looking forward?"

I guess that settles that. Krugman should stop picking on the intellectually defenseless.