Kim Severson of the New York Times documents the latest initiative by New York City government to change the way its residents eat.

(Mayor Bloomberg)...shot down trans fat, forced large restaurant chains to post calorie counts and took on a cutting-edge culinary technique called sous vide.The mayor’s raucous takeover of the public school system in 2002 led to a culinary bonus for the city’s 1.1 million school children. They now have an executive chef, whole wheat bread, salad bars and little plastic bags of sliced New York state apples. And the Mayor has now turned his attention to hunger and poverty, working with the City Council to get more people to sign up for food stamps and looking with renewed vigor at how to get healthy food to people who live in neighborhoods with no grocery stores.

I don't live and New York but I can't help but wonder if there has been failure of the market or of the institutions upon which they depend. What is clear is that Mayor Bloomberg's interventions do have serious consequences for the food industry.

Tags: trans fats | transfats | restaurants | diet | food | health | food and drink | nyc