"Fat Credits"

I don't necessarily support this idea either way, but it was one of those thoughts I was having on my way to falling asleep.

Businesses get pollution/ waste/ CO2 credits for their factories - the company can sell unused credits or buy those of other companies. This system helps us keep waste down, at least a little bit. That's as much as I know about it.

In the US, like many other modern countries, we seem to have a little weight issue. At least in part, we can blame fast food chains for selling high-calorie and high-fat food in large quantities at low cost. You probably already know where I am going with this.

What if we were to set up a system similar to the emissions credits that manufacturers get: Each franchise or chain is allowed to serve a certain amount of fat or calories per day, week, or month.

Imagine your local, healthy restaurants being able to sell their food at a lower cost because they were able to sell most of their Fat Credits. Imagine McDonalds increasing the quality of its food so they don't have to buy as many extra Fat Credits.

Of course I don't even pretend to know what would go into making this happen, and I haven't thought out the potential economics or problems. Are there any glaring issues I'm missing? Would you support such a system? Does it even make sense? Would it help in any aspect?

Many questions - just wondering if this system could work.

Good topic.

However, I don't think that this will help with the current "fat" problem the US and many other countries have. The problem with the US is not the food we serve but the people living in it. The vast majority of Americans sit in an office staring at a computer or perform some other type of job that actually involves manual work. Combine this with the daily calorie intake of the average person and all of a sudden you have fat people.

These people then teach their kids it's okay to sit inside all day and place video games while eating thousands and thousands of calories worth of fatty foods. This cycle continues and every year we get more and more fat people.

Maybe a combination of your idea and education is the way to go. I just don't think people care anymore though. Healthy sized people today are looked at like freaks of nature by most people. It truly is funny how the tables have turned.