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Posted on 03/13/2012 7:36:05 AM PDT by CNSNews.com
Defending the concept of “food deserts” last week, HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius said a mile may be too far for families to walk to get healthier foods. But, First Lady Michelle Obama says kids should walk 4-5 times that far every day, and adults should walk more than three times that far.
Challenged by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) regarding the administration’s definition of a “food desert” (being a mile away from a grocery store), HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a House hearing last week:
“Well, I think it’s very difficult for a family buying groceries – if they have to walk a mile with bags of groceries, it may be too far to get healthier food.”
“You really think that?” Rep. Kingston asked.
“I do,” Sebelius replied.
But, according to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, both kids and adults are supposed to walk several times that far – every day.
The “Let’s Move” website says that, if you’re under 18, “You can count your daily activity steps using a pedometer (girls’ goal: 11,000; boys’ goal: 13,000).”
For adults, Michelle’s website says the goal is 8,500 steps.
But, wait, you say – how many steps are in a mile? 2,640, apparently.
So, if you’re a boy, you should walk nearly five miles a day (13,000 divided by 2,640 = 4.92), and if you’re a girl, you should walk more than four miles (11,000 divided by 2,640 = 4.17).
For adults, it comes out to 3.22 miles a day (8,500 divided by 2,640).
Of course, there is the added burden of carrying bags of groceries. But, if you’re on the Obama diet, how much can a bag of steak and arugula possibly weight?
And, here’s a wacky idea: if a mile is too far to carry groceries, why not take the bus – or, the family car, since the average household has 1.9 of them.
In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) says there are more vehicles per household than there are drivers. And, they've got nearly one adult-sized bike per household, too, so they could just put the grocery bags in the little basket on the handlebars.
So, who’s right? What does this mean? Are we supposed to “move” or not?
Maybe, Sebelius should take a walk over the White House so she and the First Lady can come to an agreement.
‘Till then, might as well stay put, I guess.
Unfortunately, the residents are living in the ruins of previously great cities. Perhaps if we can determine why these former glorious population centers fell, we might find a solution.
Anybody want to hazard a guess of the cause of this phenomenon?
...barefoot...in the snow...with newspapers tucked into my thin shirt for protection from the hail and sleet...
Seriesly, doesn’t anybody remember those two-wheeled draggy shopping carts? You could carry two large bags of groceries in them. I still have mine.
We can make shopping cart purchase and usage mandatory for every household.
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If the average American walked off 30 pounds, he would be healthier, get off some medications, feel better, live longer, and possibly avoid diabetes. It would dramatically cut our health care costs.
Walking is one of the best things people can do for their health.
Let us put a Super Walmart everywhere.
Yep. Where I work it’s wigs, nail salons, hair braiding, cell phones, check cashing, drug stores, bodegas and tax preparation services. Four of ‘em in a two block stretch. Athletic shoes (not sporting goods).
We got a Walgreen’s, a CVS and a Rite Aid on three of four corners of one intersection. For three blocks on either side, every ‘taxpayer’ building is abandoned and collapsing. A town of 40,000 bordering a mid-sized city, and it has one actual bank branch and one save-a-something grocery store. And this is where everal major bus routes run right by the front doors.
The plethora of tax prep servicws was a mystery for a minute - could taxes in the ‘hood be that daunting? Nah, once I realized that they are just payday lenders like the check stores. “Get your refund today!” I won’t name them, but let’s say the are Jewitt Hackson (2 offices!), HNR Brick and The Big Green Lady With the Torch in New York Harbor. People lined up for them to open in the morning.
Dung beetles, all of ‘em (the businesses, that is). Living off of corpses and piles of crap. Oh well, I guess even dung beetles have a role in the ecology.
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With gas prices the way they are these days, I’m seeing a lot more folks walking...with and/or without grocery bags.
This has turned into a nation of sissies. I walked a mile to school every day, as did a lot of kids, and that is not a long way to go. We’re not all Sheila Jackson Lees who have to have a limo take us a block.
I think we’ll all be close to the supply since they will likely follow the patterns of the past and require all of us to work the fields after collectivization. We’ll all be allowed a turnip and two potatos a day while the rest is sold or given away for favor on the world market to the benefit of our dear leaders.
The founders went into rebellion against the king for much less agregious issues than what we have today.
The power of the fed has to be reset to the minimums laid out by the Constitution and the powers to act in the interest of its residents returned to the states.
We’re not headed toward a dictatorship; we alreay have the full dictatorship of the democrat party.
FUBO & FAD
IIRC, a year or 2 ago, they came out with a plan for the federal government (er... taxpayers) to subsidize WalMart for putting locations in these so-called “food deserts”. I think we are paying for this at this time. I don’t remember whether it was part of the “stimulous plan” or something else. They might have to add shuttles from the neighborhoods to the WalMarts to the people can actually get their food.
Show me someone from boyhood until they are 50 years old that walks 5 miles every day, and I’ll show you a candidate for knee replacement surgery.
When I was in college, there was this older black gentleman who had a horse drawn wagon with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. They were farm-fresh, better than anything you could get in a grocery. He’d call out his presence and if you wanted something,he’d stop and let you select. And we’re not talking the olden days either. This was the late 80s, in the slums of Baltimore.
The more occupied you are with the labor and logistics of just meeting the bottom two rungs of your Maslow's triangle, the less time and energy you have for observing, interfering with or even caring about the affairs of the sovereign.
There is no better formula for subjugation of a population than to have them constantly in a state of peril from starvation. Not actually in starvation - that is counter-productive, except when it is necessary to effect an ethnic cleansing or a genocide - but just on the knife edge, so all of their time and effort is devoted toward getting food, water and shelter. A little hungry, a little thirsty, a little cold, just a little sick and ricketty. That's how the tyrant wants you.
See The Hunger Games...
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Mommy, why do I look like the milk man and not daddy?
That ***thing’s*** got its own zipcode!
Walking is one of the best things people can do for their health.
Pretty much. Sad though most people don't care they are overweight anymore. People who are fit, eat right and take care of themselves are being mocked and are the oddballs.
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