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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.
The real message here is that they fully expect everyone to be afoot before long; after they destroy the economy and the ability of people to drive anywhere.
Bingo!
The way gas prices are going, Michelle is going to get her wish .... the whole country will be walking ... to work, to the grocery store, to church, etc.
Personally, I think the WH kitchen should be moved about 5 miles away and Moosechelle can WALK for HER food instead of having it served to her by the WH staff. What a flaming hypocrite.
Just another example of liberalism’s obsession with consequence-free behaviors.
Same old lie...
“you will surely not die”
I guess we’ll all have to take public transportation to the soon-to-be-established Acceptable Food Distribution Centers. Home gardening not allowed.
Too bad she doesn’t lead by example. Imagine following her and looking at that huge posterior?
They want all the peasants afoot,
working “the King’s land” (ie, all land owned by govt),
and bowing down as the “nobles” ride by in their “carriages”
I used to walk three miles to and from school every morning and afternoon. Uphill.......both ways..........
Home gardening leads to individual independence, comrade,
and you wouldn’t want to be “infected” with that,
because the only cure is death or “re-education”.
They’ll have to pry the trowel from my cold, compost stained fingers.................
A suggestion for the First Wookie. Next time you feel the need to vacation, quit stealing taxpayer money and walk, don’t fly.
She wants us to walk. This coming from a woman who has a behind the size of a tank. She would be more believable if she lost 100 pounds.
Good point which doesn’t get talked about much.
There are enough people in the inner city and ghetto areas to support supermarkets. Even in low income areas, people need to eat, and they have money plus food stamps to spend on food. The issue isn’t that the stores couldn’t sell their products in the ghetto. The issue is that costs of doing business, for security costs, and intangibles such as losses incurred due to inventory disappearing, make it a losing business proposition to locate stores in these areas.
You can tell a lot about the health of a community by seeing what types of businesses are located there. Or if the types of businesses you normally see in other places are absent.
How freaking pathetic. Now ‘they’ need to be entitled to no-effort grocery shopping.
First of all, when we do our family grocery shopping it means we are out the Kroger/Publix/CostCo/Sam’s doors with 10 bags or so, plus 3 or more gallon jugs of milk. We almost never come out with a hand-carryable load. There’s too much stuff.
So even if the house were only 1.5 miles away from Kroger (oh wait, we DO live that close) we would almost never be able to carry it home.
NEXT — the paper and/or plastic bags are generally too weak to withstand the trip unless double/triple bagged.
NEXT - bring a simple hand cart (Oh wait, they’ll just take the grocery carts off property and then dump them in the neighborhood becasue they can’t be bothered to bring them back the next time they shop.)
My nearest Home Depot is 6.8 miles away. I demand assistance!
My nearest license tag office is 11 miles away. I demand assistance!
The nearest hairweave and nail shop is one door down from the Kroger. I demand assistance!
MY LIFE SHOULD HAVE NO EFFORT OR RESPONSIBILITY ON MY PART!!!!!!!!!
YOU owe ME! (any contrary response is r_c_st)
Funny you should mention that:
When my unit was assigned to Wildflecken during a Brigade 76 deployment rotation, I remember that, when it was raining or snowing, it certainly seemed like I was walking uphill to the shoppette ... and walking uphill again when I walked from the shoppette back to the barracks.
You know the old cartoon images of high, rounded mountains that went to a sharp peak and fell away on both sides? That is exactly how I remember Wildflecken.
Hmmm, I often put on my backpack and walk the two-mile roundtrip to the store.
I can’t believe that there are Gubmint agencies arguing over regulating how far is reasonable for people to walk to get to a grocery store. Wow. We is doomed.
Seems like some enterprising person could start delivering staple food items in poor neighborhoods. From the store to your door, same day service, pre-pay only. Or just go down the street like a popsicle truck, except with laundry soap and diapers and such.
Never forget that "the family" is the primary target of the left. Making it more difficult for you to get food to a larger family is a goal, not a problem, for the left.
This was in Birmingham, Alabama, Southside in the late 60’s. Hills everywhere. Up one side and down then up another. I also had an after school paper route. I peddaled my bike loaded with Birmingham News up and down those same hills after school......and on Sunday mornings.............
anyone else see the inherent problem with this?
WOAH! I thought the a-holes wanted us to give up automobiles and walk everywhere.
Very much in tune with sustainable development - move everyone into compact communities. No one allowed to sprawl a mile beyond the store. Must live in multi-story, multi-family housing. It is more efficient.. and European
Fedgov is HUGELY in debt, and simultaneously playing parent with the “Let’s Move” media blitz, which cannot be cheap. This is absurd.
How large is your backpack? Or, if only a standard size, do you buy enough food for 1-2 meals at a time? What about carrying perishable items like milk or ice cream?
Close, but considering their background, Obama and his minions probably think of it this way:
They want all the proletariat afoot
working "the collective farm" (ie, all land owned by govt), and bowing down as the "commissars" ride by in their "Zil limos".
As an aside, I still think that the fact that the Bin Laden raid was done on May 1st (ie. Communist May Day) last year was no coincidence.
You joke, but I did have to walk a mile to buy groceries when my children were growing up. Why? Because I thought it was more important to send my children to private school than to spend the money on a car. My 4 children and I would all walk to the market and only purchase what we could carry home. It was a happy day when they were older and had part time jobs and we finally bought a second hand car. Yea we could finally buy a watermelon.
Obviously, taxpayers need to buy every welfare family a new Chevy Volt and pay their electric bill in addition to the food stamps they use to go the 1 mile to buy their nutritious food!
It would make sense if the neighborhoods were only poor. Unfortunately, many are also crime-ridden and violent. The enterprising person would almost certainly be robbed and assaulted on a regular basis.
Or just use a wagon or shopping cart to carry the grocerie over the one mile stroll.
Or just use a wagon or shopping cart to carry the grocerie over the one mile stroll.
In the olden days we had the “Manor Man”. He drove through the neighborhood three days a week and you could get regular delivery of milk, eggs, butter, orange juice and the most wonderful cinnamon rolls. If you weren’t home you filled out your order slip, put out your empty glass milk bottles and they would be replaced with full ones. Other items were left in a metal container on the front porch. Worked great.
If there is a 'food desert' in Chicago, then it's the liberal DemonRat's fault.
Most people can carry 40 pounds a mile or two without great difficulty. With a decent backpack.
40 pounds is quite a bit of food.
Might have some trouble with frozen stuff melting before you get it home.
Does it? If the answer is having to raise your own food, then that's hardly independence. It is forced labor necessitated by the oppressive policies of an overreaching regime. I don't want to be a farmer. I want to enjoy a healthy society where free enterprise allows us the freedom to be a factory worker, or a doctor, or an artist or whatever our skills and hard work allow us to achieve. I do not want to be forced to spend a certain amount of my time directly producing so much of my own basic staples.
We live in the 21st century. I do not want to return to the life of a serf from 500 years ago.
My point, exactly.
Given this fantastic discovery, both Michelle and Sebelius can be expected to - next year - win the Noble Prize for Chemistry.
I grew up in the days of milk deliveries. I still remember the insulated metal box sitting at the back door. Milk arrived in glass bottles, and it always seemed to taste better than milk from plastic bottles. The kids had a rivalry over which milk tasted the best. They really did taste different too, since the dairies didn't all have the same breeds of cows, and might have different pastures for their grazing. The simple pleasures of a Michigan childhood.
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.
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