A few years ago, in an effort to make a healthy change for myself, I gave up soda for Lent. Beforehand, I had been drinking soda just about every day which made this a particularly difficult task, but I made it through all 40 days and 40 nights.

The hardest part about refraining from drinking soda was that other people around me were drinking it – enjoying the ice-cold, bubbly sweetness that fizzed and foamed on a hot day. But still, I remembered that I had made my decision because it would be good for me, and I knew I would be all the more pleased with myself for persevering of my own will.

Yet, earlier this month, Mayor of Boston Thomas Menino undermined my ability to make this kind of decision for myself, announcing that all soda, sweetened iced teas and sports drinks will be banned from Boston’s city property.

In a press release, he proclaimed, “I want to create a civic environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice in people’s lives.”

We don’t need our choices to be easy; we just need them to be our own. The city of Boston is not an overweight child in need of a parent to tell them not to have any sweets before bedtime. If we can vote, drive a car, drink alcohol, raise children and go to school, I think we can handle the choice between juice or a Coke.

Instead of taking our options away, he should add new ones. No one is stopping him from setting up vendors that provide healthy drinks in the city.

Boston’s Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a Boston Globe article, “We’re not banning people buying them at supermarkets or at the corner store. What we are doing is sending the message that you don’t have to sell soda everywhere.”

No one ever said that soda has to be sold everywhere. It’s sold because that’s what people want, and it makes money. What’s wrong with giving the people what they want? It’s simple supply and demand. Taking it away doesn’t make people want it any less.

There’s no denying that obesity has become a serious issue in the U.S. The Center for Disease Control says that “During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States.” In addition, “Thirty-three states had a prevalence [of obesity] equal to or greater than 25 percent.”

This is clearly a problem, but soda is not the enemy here. We can only blame ourselves for our everyday choices of what to eat and drink, and how much we exercise. There are plenty of other factors involved in this country’s change in weight.

Mayor Menino showcased his inability to grasp this concept at his unveiling of the city’s new bike-sharing program, which he had catered by Boloco. It seemed contradictory to me that he would ban soda, but hand out free burritos to anyone with a bike helmet, so I looked into the nutritional values of both products.

A classic Mexican pork burrito (original size) on a flour tortilla with cheese, cilantro, rice, beans, and salsa contains the following: 1,122.94 calories (428.72 from fat), with 73 percent of our daily value of fat, 50 percent of cholesterol, and 125 percent of sodium. An eight ounce bottle of Coca Cola has 100 calories, with no percent of our daily value of fat, one percent of sodium and nine percent of total carbohydrates.

When these people were given free burritos for their participation in the event, I’m sure that making the healthy choice wasn’t easy. But didn’t Menino say that his goal in banning soda was to make the choice to be healthy easier? How can he justify preventing people from buying an unhealthy product while he shoves calorie-packed burritos in their faces?

Emily McGovern can be reached at [email protected].