I want to agree with Saletan here, really I do. There's nothing more annoying than the infantilization of a whole class of people.

But he never answers the question of why those nasty fast food places congregate in poor neighborhoods. If you propose that there's something in the culture that makes bad food popular there, you're likely being racist or classist. The alternative is to propose that the poor, who may be short both on time (due to multiple jobs and a lack of child care options) and cash (because they're poor) turn to fast food which is cheap and quick. Fast food companies then exploit the situation. A situation that can be so easily exploited simply needs government regulation. We ought to have learned that by now.

Still, the solution of allowing only grocery stores (when the poor don't have time to prepare their own food) and sit-down restaurants (when they can't spare the time or the expense) seems doomed. Better to regulate what the fast food restaurants serve if you want healthier options.

Better still would be to address the problem of poverty in the first place . . .