Advocacy Project: Issue Overview
What is the issue/problem?
The problem is that manufactures are being blamed for people being overweight and getting hurt because they are overweight. It is not the manufactures fault for being in business, we need more education and promotion on eating healthy and staying active to ensure less people are getting injured due to their weight.
What current legislation has been proposed to address this?
Commonsense Consumption Act of 2009 H.R. 812 According to THOMAS
On 2/3/2009 it was referred to House Committee and then referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary where is currently is.
Title: To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being taken over by civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity.
Who is affected by this?
Who is affected the most?
The people who are affected by this are the manufactures who market, produce, and sell the unhealthy foods that make people overweight. Also, the people who get hurt because of their weight and feel that they can put blame on the companies who made the unhealthy food instead of on themselves.
Who loses, and what do they lose?
If there wasn't a bill to protect the food companies, the companies would loose a lot of time and money dealing with lawsuits. This may not sound too bad, their rich big time companies right? But I think it would be a waste of time and energy because I don't agree with being able to blame the manufactures for getting hurt while overweight.
Who gains, and what do they gain?
Food manufactures-who are protected from lawsuits. People that get hurt due to their weight- if there is no one to blame but themselves they could take responsibility and hopefully make changes to live a healthier life.
What are the consequences of the issue?
For the individuals mostly affected?
I can't think of a consequences for not being able to bring legal action against food companies if you get hurt because you ate too much of their food. But, I guess for the individuals who get hurt because of a weight problem the consequences would be not having a way to blame someone else for their injuries, also maybe not receiving monetary compensation for winning a lawsuit.
For their families?
Having an injured family member and not having a way to solve it, besides helping that family member get better.
For society?
I think it would send the wrong message to society if there wasn't a bill like this, people can't sue cigarette companies if they get cancer.
What is the economic impact of the issue?
What are the economic costs of the issue, and who bears these costs?
I think the economic cost would come from the judges, lawyers, and court fees that would go along with legal action. The people who are injured and the companies would have to pay for lawyers, and who pays for the Judges and court fees? The tax payers in that area.
What are the economic benefits of the issue, and who benefits?
The benefits would come from wasting less time blaming others and making more time to educate and promote prevention in the future. Instead of taking time to sue the food companies these people could educate family, friends, and their community on the "what not to do's and why not to do's"
What is the social impact of the issue?
What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs?
The social costs are when anyone thinks it is okay to eat whatever they want no matter the health value and when they get hurt because of their choices they feel like they have someone else to lay the blame on
What are the social benefits of the issue, and who benefits?
The social benefits are similar to the economic benefits, more people could spend time on prevention and education which would lower the number of people getting hurt due to weight
What are the barriers?
What are the barriers to addressing this issue?
The barriers to addressing this issue is not wanting to offend anyone. Weight is a touchy subject for a lot of people, I wouldn't want to offend anyone by saying its their fault and not the food companies but I would want more focus put on early education and prevention methods
How can they be overcome?
I think they can be overcome by people working together as a team. If we have everyone on the same page (I know its not possible to have EVERYONE but the majority) we could make our efforts work in a positive way. If we had all different types of people working towards the same goal I think we could focus on the real problem which is not eating healthy and not exercising.
What are the resources?
What resources will we need to address this issue?
We need to address promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles to grade school, junior high, and high school students to make them aware of the issue and give them tools to prevent health concerns later in life due to being overweight. We would need more school programs and more creative activities to get kids excited about being healthy
Where and how can they be tapped?
We can start with the schools and families, once we have a large group interested in promotion and education of healthy eating and exercise we can work together to find new ways and better ideas to reach our goal.
What is the history of this issue?
What is the history of the issue in the community?
I couldn't really find much information in the history of this issue which leads me to believe it's not too common of a thing, but I think the issue of starting young to help prevent adult obesity and taking responsibility for choices is something that happens in every community. Obesity has grown over the years to become a huge player in pre-mature deaths, diabetes, cancer, and many other health related problems.
What past efforts were made to address it?
Besides the bill currently being discussed I couldn't find any other past efforts made to this issue. I don't believe this issue happens a lot but it must have happened at some point because this bill would prohibit any new law suites and dismiss any pending law suites.
Allies & Opponents
Supporters:
Food processing companies
Food manufacturing companies
Food distributors
Tax payers
Opposers:
Injured parties
Families of injured parties
My recommendation
Policy makers should vote YES to this bill to ensure the ability for people to market and sell their products and to force consumers to take responsibility and make healthy choices
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