On National Donut Day, Tell Government to Mind Its Business

Washington, D.C., June 3, 2011 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute today is encouraging Americans to turn National Donut Day into a day of protest. National Donut Day was created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the American women who served donuts to soldiers who fought to defend freedom in World War I. In the face of growing government intrusion into our freedom to choose what to eat and drink, CEI is urging people to enjoy two donuts — one for themselves and one for their liberty — to protest overreaching government and celebrate our hard-fought freedoms.

Government meddling in Americans’ nutritional choices continues to mount, from congressional restaurant menu labeling mandates in last year’s healthcare legislation to FDA’s seeking “voluntary” cutbacks on salt. Most U.S. states now impose surtaxes on politically disfavored food and soda, while the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity is justifying sweeping changes in community planning on nutritional grounds. The city of San Francisco has even banned the venerable McDonald’s Happy Meal! Not only are these moves to regulate nutrition based on questionable science, they also reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the proper role of government in a free society.

CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman stated: “National Donut Day didn’t start off as a political event, but given the direction in which America’s ever-expanding ‘regulatory state‘ is headed, perhaps it ought to become one. Whenever we eat, whether at home or while dining out, we find more and more politicians and bureaucrats with their fingers on our plates. Today, we urge Americans to eat donuts in celebration of our liberty and as an act of protest against government intrusion. Donuts may even be tastier that way.”