To think you can't ban food on trains?

[poshme]

In today's times (sorry rubbish at links) there's an article saying the outgoing chief medical officer wants to ban food on trains unless for medical reasons.
AIBU to think this is completely stupid & unworkable?
Apparently it's because we're snacking too much & too many children are obese.

I regularly catch trains with my kids- usually a 3-4 hr journey. Invariably it's a meal time, and part of passing the time is eating a packed meal. Yes- it's not the healthiest meal in the world & includes crisps & chocolate, but as part of a normal diet it's fine.

My kids are not overweight. In fact they're generally underweight.

If this is implemented they're never be able to enforce it surely?

Xenia I bring all my own food to the train- including crisps & chocolate. (And carrot sticks & baby tomatoes etc etc)

Quite apart from the fact that it’s completely unpoliceable it’s also very impractical. People with long commutes use the time to work and eat. And if long routes can’t boost profits with sales from the restaurant car or drinks trolley then fares will go up.

I love a long train journey. Part of the pleasure of a trip away is staring out of the window at the countryside with a coffee and snack or an M&S picnic sometimes accompanied with a glass of wine or a nice cold G&T. It makes a journey that could be a boring chore in the car into a positive treat.

What horrified me in the report was that she wanted for only breastfeeding, water or food for medical purposes consumed. So, what, if you have a tiny baby due a bottle they're going to have to cry the whole journey and be very hungry?

Also is this a total ban so you wouldn’t be allowed to whip out and snack on an apple 🍎

Absolutely ridiculous. Most of my colleagues travel around the country on a daily basis, getting trains from one meeting to another. Sometimes the only time we have available to eat is on a train. Plus many journeys can be 3, 5, 7 hours long depending on where you are going. You can't expect people not to eat for that long. Stupidest thing I have heard in a long time

I have just been reading the same article! Crazy idea. And what's "snacking"? So I can't eat crisps but a sandwich would be ok?

I also don't buy the whole thing about advertising junk food. You can advertise carrots and sprouts until the cows come home, kids won't want to eat them. It's not about persuading kids to eat chocolate per se - it's about persuading them to eat your brand of chocolate. Chocolate is nice - that's why kids want to eat it. Not because they see it advertised. I agree that it should be more difficult to buy though and certainly agree about having an "exclusion zone" for the likes of McDonalds near schools and colleges.

Banning things is too easy. Spending money on making it easier for people to eg walk and cycle, improving public transport etc is not so easy.

I'm also not so sure that the sugar tax is a success. Sugar is less bad for you than artificial sweeteners.

What horrified me in the report was that she wanted for only breastfeeding, water or food for medical purposes consumed. So, what, if you have a tiny baby due a bottle they're going to have to cry the whole journey and be very hungry?

I imagine, if it was ever brought in, (which it won't be), formula would of course be allowed.

you wouldn’t be allowed to whip out and snack on an apple

Tbf apples are one of the worst things from a fellow passenger point of view. The amount of chomping and lips smacking involved makes me stabby.

You couldn't ban smelly food. How would you police it? I think tuna smells vile. Some people hate the smell of eggs. McDonald's smells horrendous to some people and others like it.

This won't happen anyway, it's just supposed to get people thinking about what they eat on trains and frothing that they don't want the government involved, so that the government can say they've made suggestions that the public hated.

I don't think you should ever need to eat outside a house or a restaurant, unless its a picnic or a really really long journey. It's perfectly possible for most healthy people to not eat for 4 hours.

I don't understand why she specifically mentioned breastfeeding. Surely it should be a given that a baby would need to be fed be it whatever sort of milk. And good luck with not giving food to a hungry toddler.

The train companies will never get on board. They must make tons from over-priced food.
Plus what will people on long journeys do? Can't see it happening

Yes the awful overpriced crap they sell on trains is probably propping up the entire train network

It's ridiculous. I work in the community and sometimes the only chance I get to eat is a snatched sandwich on the bus in between client visits. Especially in the winter when it's raining and taking 10 mins on a bench, in a park etc isn't an option

Car free weekends are ridiculous. Lots of us live in small towns/villages with few facilities. If we need to shop or go to the cinema, see friends, take our kids somewhere nice for the day etc, then we have to drive.
My DC are at school Mon - Fri. My DH is at work - I don't see why I should have our freedom curtailed during our work free time.
For this to work, the govt would need to spend a shit load of money improving public transport. Where I live, the his may or may not turn up, with no notice. Car use is essential.
These ideas are generally floated by people who live in cities with the underground or trams and very good bus services.

I don't think its ridiculous, but of course there are always going to be exemptions.

Frankly with the obesity crisis it’s clear that plenty of people do need nannying. I don’t see the problem with banning food on local public transport - many countries do so already, and it certainly used to be completely unacceptable here. Long distance transport is another matter though.

I do wonder how the thinking works with this. Is it just that some folk live in London and think everything is within a 45 minute hop on a bus or Tube?

The no snacking on public transport thing is irritating and equally the report recommends several occasions a year when everyone has a ‘no car’ weekend. That’s flipping great if you can sashay out of your house onto a Tube line or catch a bus - what are those of us living in the middle of bloody nowhere meant to do? Have a walk (as we do every day) and then spend the weekend on the sofa watching Netflix and eating crisps because we can’t get anywhere?

I wish they would ban alcohol on trains, but that’s another thread.

I thought this was going to be about banning smelly food lol.

Perhaps they will ban snacking altogether? They could put cameras in people's homes and encourage children to inform on their parents. We must not let anything stand in the way of our prime directive. Protests will be crushed.

I’m fat, btw. Telling me I can’t eat on the train isn’t going to make me thinner.

They could put cameras in people's homes and encourage children to inform on their parents

We're halfway there with the "government" we have at the moment.

I guess I could play the Diabetes card. I think it will only apply to Stage one? I am stage 2.

I must admit whilst waiting for a bus at 6.15 in the morning I often have a drink and sometimes have a sandwich (breakfast!).

I have a problem with taking my medication (Diabetes/High Blood pressure/Cholesterol). If I don't properly line my stomach, I throw up. Before I throw up, I faint- as I did a few days ago and hurt my right leg - which I fell heavily on to. Last time I fell and hit my eyesocket. I cannot face breakfast too early in the morning so sometimes do eat on the bus.

I don't tend to eat hot food on a bus. I blush to think I once ate a whole pizza on a tube. What was I thinking? Antisocial and not good for my weight!!! That wasn't breakfast by the way!!!!

I must admit though, sitting next to someone eating those dry roast peanuts or popcorn or cheesey wotsits turns my stomach. I am concerned when people get on with cups of hot coffee. Not everyone is careful, and if they are standing, and the bus jerks...

Also, banning food on public transport would help with the rat infestation.

It's the recommendation to ban drink consumption that has me astonished. Did someone really think it was viable to stop people consuming coffee and tea on the train during their commute?

SafetyAdvice0FeedWhenAgitated Yes I can see it working in Paris or London where the majority of people don’t really need a car . It’s not really going to work anywhere rural though which is why it sounds ridiculous.