Nobody likes to be told to eat their vegetables, and that doubles the pandemic. So it’s crazy that the New York government is allowing the State Liquor Authority to aggressively enforce regulations that require beverage institutions to serve food with alcoholic beverages they sell to consumers. COVID-19 pandemic.
It may not be unexpected that this has led to ridiculous situations. For example, Pint Sized (a craft beer bar in Saratoga Springs) fined $1,500 for not serving what regulators think consistent enough with a pint of beer. Pint Sized seeks to comply with the New York rule by providing undeniable bowls of canned vegetables, beans or chilli to each customer.
It turned out that, of course, consumers could not keep all the food dishes that came to their tables. Bar staff began to feel guilty about food waste, rightly given the difficulties of food banks from the pandemic, and decided to reduce the amounts to one. bowl of food consistent with the visitor’s table. When undercover agents from the State Liquor Authority ordered beers from Pint Sized and earned an inadequate amount of food in addition to their drinks, the company fined the bar.
Although Pint Sized would possibly have paid the fine fee by promoting ironic T-shirts to its unwavering consumers (never underestimate American alcohol innovation), the episode shows how disconnected and harmful New York’s technique is to food and beverage corporations.
In fact, among the many bleak pandemic-like statistics, some of the miserable maxims are our beloved food service establishments. One in 4 jobs lost, the pandemic came here from a place to eat and other similar businesses, adding breweries, distilleries and wineries, were Despite this brutal reality, it turns out that government regulators are determined to worsen suffering just because they can.
At the beginning of the pandemic, New York imposed strangely express rules that required restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages only with food, and then clarified that food will have to be “substantial enough” to meet this requirement. At first, many bars began promoting “Cuomo chips,” which were a timid reference to the governor of New York, as well as an undeniable way for those institutions to verify compliance with the rule. However, State Liquor Authority regulators were not enthusiastic and informed the bars. that fries and nuts did not count: cheese and crackers, as well as chips and sauce, were supposedly fine.
While you may be forgiven for not buying the State Liquor Authority’s argument that a bowl of government-ordered beans is an important opposite to a fatal virus, the lack of sincerity in the government’s position has become even more apparent after it took more than six weeks. Publish. A fine on Pint Sized, despite supposedly pressing physical fitness disorders of very little food.
Unfortunately, New York’s food desires are not unique, other states have implemented rules that have led to absurd experiments like open-air breweries in Philadelphia that promote a single boiled egg along with a beer, and California regulators give main points about whether or not salad counts as food.
These regulations on food desires suggest his legacy to a prohibition-era mentality in which alcohol was considered too harmful to consume without the presence of giant amounts of food. Like their descendants of trendy restaurants, salons have also tried wise solutions, such as leaving a recycled, unused sandwich on the table for a few seconds after each drink order before taking Return to the Kitchen for the next order.
In the midst of a contagious pandemic, it is understandable that governments are willing to apply regulations to protect the population, unfortunately, than to employ more practical approaches (such as spending more resources to enforce social esttachment protocols or allowing restaurants to sell cocktails). permanently removed), New York officials are doubling their ridiculous options.
Meanwhile, small and well-meaning businesses like Pint Sized will be forced to bear the cost. And an excessive amount of food will be wasted unnecessarily.
C. Jarrett Dieterle is a senior member of the R Street Institute and Give Me Liberty and Give Me a Drink!Shoshana Weissmann is the Senior Director of Digital Media and a member of R Street.