How Mayor Bloomberg Causes Obesity

Yeah the doctors don’t know, but New York was killing me / Bunch of doctors coming round, they don’t know / That New York is killing me / Yeah I need to go home and take it slow in Jackson, Tennessee -Gil Scott-Heron (2010)

On October 6 Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked the United States Department of Agriculture for permission to enjoin New York City’s 1.7 million food stamp recipients from using their stamps to buy sodas and other sugary drinks.

The request, made with New York State’s assistance, is part of a anti-obesity campaign pursued by the Bloomberg administration that has already included advertisements, greater restrictions on food sold in public schools, and an unsuccessful go at imposing a tax on the sugar drinks.