Posted on 05/28/2011 6:31:57 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
Durham, N.C. — Healthier food might soon be coming to a corner store near you, thanks to an initiative by local, state and federal governments to bring better eating options to areas without grocery stores.
Those who live along Angier Avenue in east Durham can buy food, but most of it is not very healthy. A mini mart sells candy and snacks, and a diner features a one-pound hot dog. The federal government calls places like this "food deserts."
"All the grocery stores have left, and all that people have access to is what's in a convenience store," said Sheree Vodicka, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Division of Public Health.
Grocery stores typically carry more fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier food than convenience stores. "If you can't get to them, you can't choose those foods," Vodicka said. But things are on changing on Angier Avenue. Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers opened a grocery store there a year ago. It's become part of a new state effort to work with stores to bring fruits and vegetables to those food deserts.
The TROSA store manager said that business is brisk and people are buying healthier foods. "The community realizes that they have access, that they have resources," said David Reese, co-chair of Partnership for a Healthy Durham. People also get lessons on how to cook fresh vegetables from the county health department. "A lot of people may have been raised not eating it in the healthiest way, so we're trying to teach people to cook things quick and easy," nutritionist Kelly Warnock said.
But the program is about more than improving human health. Organizers hope it will bring back some big grocery stores to improve the community's economic health.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Just maybe those areas don’t have grocery stores because nobody lives there.
Control access to food, and control the population.....
I don't see how any location that features a one-pound hot dog could be labeled a "food desert" — indeed, it appears that diner in question is Joe's Diner (aka Joe's Big Hot Dogs).
(For what it is worth, the Urbanspoon article to an interesting news site story about Joe's Diner.)
There would be healthier food available if the customers asked for it. Merchants will supply what customers are willing to pay for.
The map shows Keweenaw county in Michigan as a food desert but there are less than 3000 in the county. Not a whole hell of a lot of anything there.
but it really pisses me off when the person in front of me at the check out register has a grocery cart full of stuff I can’t afford.
And it is coming out of my pocket.
” Huge tracts of unpopulated country are classified as food deserts. Just maybe those areas don’t have grocery stores because nobody lives there. “
I’m one of those ‘nobodys’ who ‘lives there’ - 30 miles from my house to the closest shopping, or gas station, or doctor....
A few of us neighbors looked into the possibility of a State or Federal grant, or even an SBA loan, to start a Convenience-type store or co-op in our little hamlet (pop 200), since we were white, male, and middle-to-upper age, even though many of us are on SS, or VA pensions, we got, at best, ignored, and, mostly, laughed at.....
Every first lady get to create one program. Usually they are stupid wastes of money that sound good on paper, or as a legacy. It's a tradition.
One issue that the article doesn’t address is the fact that urban census tracts are very populated, and hence are very small.
Case in point, look at the near south shore of Chicago. At 61st and Stony Island, there is a “food island.” Now the eastern half of the census tract is park and golf course. The western half is very close to non-desert census tracts. If you lived smack in the middle of the populated area of the census tract, you would find that the Hyde Park Co-op (or whatever it is called now)is only 6-8 blocks away at 55th and Hyde Park Blvd. The Hyde Park Co-op has the EXACT types of foods the bureaucrats are promoting. However, the prices are a bit high. If you have a car, Hyde Prk Produce is a 5min. drive away at 53rd and Kimbark (about 12 blocks, still walkable in decent weather), and I think the general purpose Mr. G’s might still be there. These urban stores will also deliver groceries. You walk or take a bus, and for a couple of dollars per bag, they’ll drive the stuff to your apartment. It costs more, but hey, no car payment ... right?
“rice and beans, or pizza and beer...”
What’s wrong with that? This only covers breakfast and lunch. Where’s dinner, cigars and Black Velvet?
Government losers don’t know how to make a useful food pyramid.
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
Milton Friedman
Blowing up those levees to flood a huge area of farm land could be considered a direct action of reducing food supplies.
Placing all small farmers under new expensive certification and regulation regime before they are allowed to sell their crops in local markets like they have been doing in the US forever, is another strategy the USDA has used to cut food supplies.
The government subsidizing corn farmers to turn their food into fuel in the name of “global warming and energy independence” is another way to diminish food supplies.
Obammy’s been busy knocking down the US as best an Stalinist could dream of in such a short time. Drought has taken care of China and Russia. Africa is out of luck unless Obama decides to ration and redistribute food on a global level with the UN. He would never do anything like that./s/
First sentence of the article...
Healthier food might soon be coming to a corner store near you, thanks to an initiative by local, state and federal governments to bring better eating options to areas without grocery stores.
What would you call that if not 'government running grocery stores?'
The first thing that came to mind was uncle want to open some stores and put legal immigrants in place as the business operator the way they did with the motel industry.
“Didn’t they have govt. run stores in the USSR? OK their shelves were empty but at least they didn’t sell junk food, right? “
They also had military guards with machine guns guarding the doors. Kept down shoplifting costs.
Shoplifting is what created the “food desert” in my neighborhood when the local supermarket market failed. Twice. Now it’s a health club for yuppies and muppies.
And the reason they left the area was what? I think we all know the answer to that. The stores were robbed, their workers mugged and the area(s) were just unsafe and unprofitable to run a business.
Not surprisingly, the owner is a private entrepreneur who also has plans to open a supermarket in the area. I found his name somewhat amusing, though ... Joe Bushfan. He must have caught a lot of flak on account of it.
Certainly, these good citizens can take public transportation to a grocery store. I've done it myself, so I know it's possible.
Exactly - we’ve seen this movie before - this time it’s a remake with up to date costumes and dialogue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.