I'm guessing William Saletan has never lived in California, where hard liquor can be bought in any supermarket (and up to 2 a.m. in most cases). Not to mention giant discount booze-only supermarkets. It's about as close to being unregulated as you can get. So what the LA ordinance is saying is, fast food is actually more dangerous than alcohol. Pretty hard to make that case when you put it that way.

Not to mention that the real issue is, where do they get off banning it only in poor neighborhoods? If they think it's so unhealthy that it needs to be prohibited, why not ban it everywhere? Or is the assumption that rich people don't need to be protected from the consequences of their own bad choices? Now that's elitism.

"Zoning" covers a pretty wide range of issues in communities nationwide. Like any other form of government, it can be applied wisely or foolishly. It's hardly a blanket justification for any inequitable and mean-spirited regulation that some group of do-gooders comes up with.

Do you even know what this zoning law really is about??? It is clear you do NOT. Really why the need to lie?

Does liquor store zoning BAN the selling of liquor? NO! Liquor stores are still available they are just LIMITED. You know so many stores per block etc...

There are already 400 fast food places in the area. NONE of these are being taken away. THUS your paranoia is WAY OVER THE TOP. Fast food is SAVE!!!!

This is a BOGUS and SILLY law and an incorrect use of Zoning! BUT it is NOT a ban on what people can eat!

In other words people do NOT need to LIE to make the case this law is bogus. Why did one poster after antoher LIE? That is what gets be and I believe it is because Saletan wrote such a poor and misleading article.