The action of the New York City authorities has clearly demonstrated what this blog has been espousing all along; organisations should either lead social change, making human and social issues the centrepiece of their strategy, or suffer adverse consequences and loss in competitiveness.
Yesterday, December 5, the city placed a ban on the use of artificial trans fats in foods in all its restaurants. The basis of their ruling is that trans fats are responsible for the clogging of the arteries, which can lead to severe heart conditions.
The ban is effective in three months and many of the cities restaurateurs are not prepared for it. They will be scrambling to get their business in order by the due date.
Some of the major chains such as Wendy’s and McDonald’s have been making steps to reduce the level of trans fats in their foods by making “voluntary reductions” in the amounts used. They too will be scrambling to meet the deadlines – their partial solution to the problem has effectively been deemed unacceptable.
This further strengthens the arguments made by this blog and the book The Human Asset Manifesto; for organisations to have a business that is both sustainable and competitive, they must lead social change, rather than being dragged kicking and screaming into it. You would think that made absolute sense.
Unbelievably, the National Restaurant Association is fighting the ban – somehow the initials NRA seem most appropriate to its stance. The association is more worried about the ban spreading to other parts of the nation, than for the health of the consuming public.
Such thinking is both futtile and backward. Soon, all consumers will be demanding food sans trans fats – be it in New York or wherever in this world the consuming public expresses more than a passing concern for the vitality of its heartbeat. In other words, everywhere.
Those establishments that take the lead by recognising the full human and social implications of their current business model, and resolve to take all necessary action, will emerge as the champions of the future.
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