Eat As I Say, Not As I Eat

New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) wants to emulate San Francisco by banning Happy Meals. Like the ban that will take effect in the City by the Bay this December, Comrie's bill would prohibit toys tied to kid's meals unless the food meets specific nutritional guidelines. Comrie says he wants to save kids from the evil machinations of fast food chains that "target and lure in the most vulnerable members of our society." But who will save Comrie? As his vegetarian wife informed the New York Post, he does not go to McDonald's for the toys:

If you want a big example of how not to eat, just take a look at City Councilman Leroy Comrie, his wife told The Post.

The super-sized Queens Democrat seeking a ban on McDonald's Happy Meal toys is himself a cautionary tale on the consequences of scarfing down too many Big Macs, Marcia Comrie said.

"He doesn't do it in front of me—he knows it's the bane of my existence," she said of her 335-pound husband's fast-food-devouring ways. "But the results are there for anyone to see."

Comrie's wife, 54, a vegetarian who "does yoga and watches every morsel" she eats, said the councilman eats healthy at home but cheats when he's out.

"He's not averse to healthy eating," she said. "He actually enjoys when I make him a wholesome breakfast, and he likes when I cook him tofu.

"But by lunchtime he could be having spare ribs—or a Big Mac."

Comrie, 51, who counts Slurpees among his weaknesses, once shed 100 pounds eating a diet of nothing but salads and water, said his wife, a writer.

"Unfortunately, no man can live on salads and water alone, and he ends up going in for those quick meals—which I hesitate to even call meals."

The councilman's weight has fluctuated over the years, but the toy-ban bill is important to him because he knows that "once you lay down a foundation of bad eating habits as a child, it's very hard to shake them," she said.

Presumably New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would say the same thing about his salty, salty ways.