Cost has nothing to do with what poor people eat. They eat what they like. Period! Food stamps enable them to eat better than most middle class folks, who follow strict budgets. Maybe they should get off their arses and cook, or even learn to cook.
Exactly! If you look at ads on TV for the fast food chains you can't miss the fact that they are aimed at specific ethnic groups, and I doubt that's an accident.
Hold on now.
With all due respect, that is incorrect.
I completed my OSU Master Gardener training in Ohio. My “project” to get my certification took me into the housing projects of Cleveland. I spent a summer working there.
Are some of the sterotypes true? yes. But not all of them.
The truth is, much of the processed (but not frozen) food IS cheaper. For a mom stretching her food stamps, this matters. There are many reasons why this is, but the #1 reason is that fresh groceries cost more because of the waste factor. Why do you think fresh vegetables in the grocery store aren’t as good as those from your garden? They are bred for flavor, not transport. It’s why a store bought cucumber has a bullet-proof skin, and the one you grow at home is not.
Processed food operates much like dollar cost averaging, which is why it costs less. Seasonal products cost more because they are....seasonal. And that means perishable. Spoilage, damage, shipping delays all have to be included in the pricing.
My experience in the ‘hood’ changed my life, and changed how I thought of things. Some prejudices were reinforced; but others were blown out of the water.
For me, the bottom line is this:
MO is right, there ARE food deserts. But people like BO are much of the reason why. She could change this, but her ideology probably prevents her from doing so.
1. The trial lawyers need to be reigned in. First, to allow companies to put stores into high crime areas without massive legal exposure.
2. Rules about small businesses and union labor need to be relaxed to allow both small user-friendly local farmers markets and also Walmart-type stores in.
3. Instead of blowing her time on some of the frivolous parts of her initiative, she should encourage community gardening and allow people to profit from them. Yes, that dirty word Profit.
When this lifetime suburban gal rolled into the CMHA projects, I knew all the answers. By the time I left at the end of that summer, I didn’t.
But it is humbling indeed when you learn the following:
Little kids are amazed to see where food comes from. They really do think it comes from cans, boxes, and bags. The joy on their face when they realized they were able to grow their own green bean, or tomato, or carrot (with your help) is humbling. And it makes you think.
Mayor Dave Bing in Detroit is taking a lot of heat, over his idea to bulldoze vacant city housing stock. I think it’s positively brilliant, especially if he bulldozes every other house, giving each home a double lot. Semi-dwarf fruit trees can go in, vegetable gardens, herb gardens and all the rest. This will do more good than any gov’t program to subsidize fresh fruits and vegetables. Each and every county in this country has a Cooperative Extension Service which includes Master Gardener volunteers to help get these things off the ground. We work for free and it’s our way to repay the state universities for our advanced training.