Council Member Angela Lawson introduced a “healthy kid’s” ordinance during an Aurora city council study session that would restrict kid’s meals throughout the city. The presentation began with statistics identifying some communities of color as having overweight children. It was followed with a discussion where medical groups asked for council’s help in eliminating sugary drinks from kid’s meals by mandating menu changes and enforcing the change with city code inspectors. They contended this action would help prevent parents from making bad decisions.
Several of us spoke against government control of restaurant menus. We said education, in partnership with key organizations, would allow parents to make informed decisions for their children. We only had four votes for an education alternative and needed six, so we lost.
Here is what the proposed ordinance says:
Section 26- 442. Default beverage option.
(a) On and after 11/1/20 a food establishment that sells a children’s meal that includes a beverage in the price of the meal shall make the default beverage sold with said children’s meal one of the following items:
1) Water, still or sparkling, with no added natural or artificial sweeteners; or
2) Dairy milk or milk substitute with no added natural or artificial sweeteners.
(b) Nothing in this section prohibits a food establishment or any employee of the food establishment to sell, or the customer’s ability to purchase, any other beverage that is available.
Please understand the word “default” has no actual meaning. The word lawyers pay attention to is “shall.” So, what this ordinance really says is:
By 11/1/20, restaurants shall only include water or milk in their kid’s meals menus, or the restaurant will be cited and potentially fined by the city. If a parent wants to buy any other drink, they can so long as it’s not included on the kid’s meal menu.
You might ask what would happen if a parent wanted to substitute a drink other than water or milk. I spoke with the Colorado Restaurant Association about that issue. Their response was that it will be up to each restaurant to determine whether they freely substitute or charge for the drink.
Keep in mind that every restaurant in Aurora that offers kids meals will be mandated to change their online, Grubhub, and Uber Eats menus. They will also have to repaint their wall menu and reprint all their paper menus. This is not a minor expense for many of the small restaurants in the city.
Some restaurants said they lose money on each kid’s meal they sell, but they offer them to draw families in. Given the expense of this ordinance, they may simply stop offering kid’s meals.
Council must vote on the ordinance at two formal meetings before it can become a law. Those two votes will occur in March.
I believe parents should have the right to make choices for their children. Unfortunately, it appears most council members believe the government knows better. Since the ordinance has not yet come up for a vote, you have time to contact your council members and have your voice heard.
Dave Gruber is an at-large member of the Aurora City Council