San Francisco Bans Happy Meals

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has voted to require restaurant kids’ meals that come with free toys to contain fewer than 600 calories, include fruits and veggies, and exclude fat- and sugar-laden beverages. And (surprise!) McDonald’s Happy Meal doesn’t make the cut.

As a kid (before I went vegetarian “cold turkey” at age 10 after realizing that meat comes from a living, breathing being), I would beg my parents to take me to Mickey D’s for the latest cheap plastic doodad. I couldn’t have cared less about the fat-and-cholesterol bomb in a bun that came with it, but the toy lured me (and my parents) to the drive-through month after month.
 

With 15 percent of American children now classified as overweight or obese—putting them in danger of serious health problems including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer—stopping restaurants like McDonald’s from using “kid bait” to market unhealthy animal flesh to children seems like a pretty good idea to this former Happy Meal lover.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post