# Obesity lawsuit -- a real casus belly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 16, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092 "2003-01-16T23:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092/41 "2003-01-18T19:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Virgowitch \* > \*\*There have been a lot of news stories lately linking food stamps and obesity. It seems poor people really ARE fatter than the rich. Maybe they aren’t smart enough to avoid the Golden Arches. \*\* Are you _looking_ to get pitted again? There are very many reasons why poor people would be fatter than rich people, and not one of them has a damn thing to do with intelligence. Education, maybe, but the two are far from equivalent. And it’s not like McDonald’s is the sole cause of all obesity everywhere. Look at all the many varieties of junk food that are available on the cheap, and all the ways we have to avoid activity. That combination is the culprit. ---
**Author:** ![Middlea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@Middlea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Middlea)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092/42 "2003-01-18T19:31:01Z")
To quote Louis Black re:Caesar Barbar as person of the year: “…he overweight, ill-informed, and litigious. It’s an American Hat trick.” ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_User](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Abe\_User](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_User)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092/43 "2003-01-23T19:55:29Z")
How about a round of applause for Judge Robert Sweet for getting it right and dismissing this POS case. I am an attorney who has have appeared before him and must say that he is one of the most sensible judges in the entire US Court system. He even looks like the stereotypicial white haired judge on the big bench just like in any old movie. The plaintiff is threatening to amend his complaint, and I would love to see the oral argument when McDs moves to dismiss again. I’ve seen Judge Sweet shred counsel before. And the low-life attorney for plaintiff really deserves to be torn a new one and sent back to doing slip and fall cases in the Bronx. ---
**Author:** ![jeevmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jeevmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevmon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092/44 "2003-01-23T20:09:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Green Feather \* > \*\*The money spent at McD would have gone a lot further at the grocery store. And if you’re determined to destroy your health with food, the grocery store has all of the necessary ingredients. The assembly of these ingredients is not rocket science. This kid could use the exercise. Although he would probably pass out from exhaustion before the meal was served. \*\* Well, this actually raises an aspect of this whole thing that isn’t often discussed, namely, that grocery stores selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and USDA approved raw meat aren’t always easy to find in poor areas, especially in inner cities. Supermarkets take up lots of space, and have a low profit margin. Small butcher and produce shops are kind of a dying breed. Add to that the problems that people can have in paying the gas bill or electric bill to operate the stove and oven to cook stuff, and you end up with a dependency on fast food outlets for basic nutrition. Convenience stores sell some food, but generally don’t have a huge selection of produce, and what they do have generally cannot be characterized as fresh. I remember that when a Dominick’s supermarket opened right across the street from the notorious Cabrini-Green housing project here in Chicago, it was big news because no store like that (fresh food, wide selection, fruits, meats, etc.) had existed in that area for some time. Now, I don’t think the courts have any business trying to step in and rectify the social conditions that may make fast food the only kind of food practically available, nor do I believe that these conditions absolve the parents of all responsibility, or make the restaurants liable for anything. But it is a sociological phenomenon worth noting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obesity-lawsuit-a-real-casus-belly/149092.md?page=2)