Fat Heads

The comedians running the Oregonian’s editorial page recently opined that Multnomah County should go forward with a plan to require chain restaurants to “include calorie counts alongside regular menu items, with the number as prominently displayed as the item’s price.”  As someone who is following a low-carb diet and has lost fifty pounds this year, I would love to walk into a restaurant and have the carb counts of menu items listed, but the idea of having the government require this never crossed my mind.  I instead acted as if I were an adult responsible for myself.  I researched carbohydrate, calorie, and fat counts of food myself.  If I planned on eating at a restaurant, I would go to that establishment’s website and check nutritional information.  If I had a question about food preparation or ingredients, I would ask the wait staff.  I also consulted diet books so I knew generally what I should and shouldn’t be eating.  People aren’t overweight and eating “bad” foods because they don’t know the calorie counts.  They’re eating those calories because they taste so damn good.