Posted on 09/27/2005 7:01:19 PM PDT by NJRighty
September 27, 2005 Poor Have Difficulty Eating Healthy Foods By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE (AP) -- Laurieann Cossey has always struggled with her weight. Four years ago, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Now, six months pregnant and struggling to get by, the single mother tries to make sure her 1-year-old son gets the fruits and vegetables he needs.
''I worry a lot about my son being obese,'' said Cossey, whose mother and grandmother also had diabetes.
Cossey, a 43-year-old community college student, and her son, Andrew, survive on food stamps, trips to the food bank, and a state program for pregnant women and their children that provides essentials such as dairy products, fruit juice and cereal.
She knows they should both be eating more fruits and vegetables. But the foods on the government's new food pyramid are too expensive. Boxed macaroni and cheese costs less than a dollar to feed the whole family; a fresh chicken breast and steamed vegetables cost about $2.60/
The poor have more barriers to dealing with obesity, eating healthy and leading an active life, said Dr. Lydia Tinajero-Deck said/
Dr. David L. Katz of Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center advocates vegetable subsidies. He favors the idea of a junk food tax that would use the money to lower the price of vegetables, as well as pay for anti-obesity programs/
Crane said PCC would be happy to see more funding for government programs that get produce to low-income families/
He also argues for research to map the geographical distribution of obesity rates and spoke about obesity by ZIP code at a conference over the summer. An ''atlas of obesity'' would help policymakers know where to focus their programs, he said/
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I've really turned my husband's eating around, and he loves every bite. He lost 70 pounds and I lost 20 a few years ago, but it was never really about the weight, but about our health. We went low-fat, heart healthy. Tons of fresh fruit and veggies, whole grains, good fats, lean meat and seafood in small amounts. I buy almost nothing prepared.
It's a lot of work but I've taught myself to be a fabulous "spa cook". He can't wait to see what I come up with for dinner every night.
He went from sick and fat to running a marathon last week on his 50th birthday.
My rule is never drink calories. Well, except red wine.
Surely you're not suggesting that they actually COOK their own food....that's a lot like work. Besides, they might miss the latest episode of Sex in the City. We need a government program that provides food delivery service at prime TV times so they don't have to get off their fat behinds to operate the microwave.
I can't imagine why they're having problems with obesity. < /sarcasm >
And need freight cranes to pluck them off the roof after a hurricane.
Forget about the $4.00 pasta.
Try black beans and rice.
It's cheap, healthy, tasty and we Cubans swear by it.
What? And dry up her source of income?
Agreed...I was just about to post the same. I've been saying it to my husband for years (we both cook and preserve food).
Since we ARE paying an fortune for public schools...whatever happened to "Home Ec" classes? WE learned that; along with budget shopping; how to balance the checkbook, coupon clipping, etc. In addition, we learned how to correctly launder and repair clothing (all geared towards saving money on clothing).
I'm not THAT old, but we had to take home ec for at least a year (guys too...we gals had to take shop to learn basic home maintenance). Do they still require it?
Maybe they should require four years of this for those who have a GPA that indicates a difficult future.
Incidentally, can you imagine the howls if you required classes for food stamps??
"Beer used to be considered a food in England."
Exactly. While helping my son research a 4th grade Pilgrim report, I came across the fact that beer was England's beverage of choice because the water was filthy & dangerous to drink. The early settlers were so surprised at the clean water in America. (Could we have become such a great nation partly because our kids didn't have alcoholic beverages pickling their brains? Do the French & Germans, who have beer in vending machines, bring up their kids on alcoholic drinks?)
Anyway, they also had so much shellfish to eat, that indentured servants had it in their contracts that there would only be so much shellfish in their meals per week. Also, the King of Spain was especially fond of our lobsters.
It's not a common practice. However there is another type of program that allows those types of purchases as well as food, so that may be what you're seeing used. But just a straight food stamp eligibilty doesn't allow non-food items.
If y'all know of someone legitimately in need, you could have them check out http://www.angelfoodministries.org/ . This is an organization that gets churches together to make bulk purchases of food. The cost is $25 per box, and each box should supply one senior citizen for four weeks or a family of four for about one week.
You might want to look at different stores. I don't know where you live, but just about every place I've lived in years has some kind of natural food store or store that sells natural bulk food. I've eaten very natural and healthy food for years and spend less than just about anyone I know.
I always buy from bulk bins, sometimes whole bags of stuff we use a lot like whole wheat flour, eat lots of beans and whole grains. Simple healthy eating really is cheap. You just have to not mind spending some time cooking. But slow cookers, oven cooking, cooking a big pot of something and having leftovers all save time.
Healthy alternatives that are pre-prepared, frozen, or in boxes definitely cost more, you're right.
If you want any ideas, freepmail me. Used to work as a natural foods cook.
What complete nonsense!
One thing anyone can do in supermarkets is to see what welfare humans* put into their market carts. Try this yourself, and here's what you can expect to find...
1. Convenience foods
2. Junk foods (chips, sodas, candy, ice cream, anything guaranteed to keep one overweight.)
3. Beer and/or wine
4. Pampers
They inevitably spend more than they need to...and for processed carbohydrates rather than "food" as we know it.
*(Simple profiling usually tells you who's on welfare and foodstamps at checkout generally confirms it.)
.
The trick is to get the fiber up and keep the fat to a moderate level. Add a cut up can of tomatoes and a can of kidney beans (each drained as desired) to that mac and cheese, and only use half the butter or margarine it calls for. Boxed powdered milk is also quite a budget stretcher.
And with that I think I'll have a donut :-)
Sharing recipes would be more effective and less likely to be viewed as condescending.
He goal is to show them how to find bargains and stock up. But maybe you're right. Maybe it does seem condescending. Never thought of that.
The helpful comments could go at the bottom of the recipes... "you can watch for X to go on sale, which is usually in Y-ember, then keep it in your basement for half a year"
They're right. Send me a $100 and I'll buy some broccoli. for another $100, I'll take a bite.
Ironic indeed!
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