Posted on 05/06/2008 12:11:49 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Food costs likely to boost obesity in poor Healthier choices will be even more out of reach, experts say.
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer Some of the fattest people in America are among the poorest.
And with food prices rising, the problem is likely to get worse.
Tianna Gaines, who describes herself as impoverished and obese, knows this. At 5-foot-3 and 242 pounds, she lives on public assistance in Frankford and eats junk food because it's cheap and more readily available in her neighborhood than carrots and apples.
Besides, said Gaines, 28, and a mother of three, "I don't have the money for Bally's fitness clubs. And I can't run here. They shoot you."
More poor people may suffer Gaines' fate, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicting food prices will be up 4.5 percent throughout the year, due to high fuel costs, weather problems, and the growing diversion of corn crops to make ethanol. Globally, prices will rise nearly 50 percent, according to the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
"The food crisis will make obesity and attendant diabetes even more rampant," said University of Washington epidemiologist Adam Drewnowski. "Fruits, vegetables and fish are becoming luxury goods completely out of reach of many people. Consumption of cheap food will only grow.
"Obesity is the toxic consequence of a failing economy."
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Even in a city, you can toss a few seeds in a pot on a balcony or even a kitchen window and have salad greens and cherry tomatoes all summer.
She also has a paper: When Women go Hungry: Violence and Food Insecurity in Philadelphia.
She is slightly better looking than I thought she’d be. I figured she’d be a beast.
Speak out? Move out.
Related article with another hunger expert - I didn’t know there were so many:
[
Monday, April 14, 2008
States push to get food to needy
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Food Stamp Participation Rates
States vary widely in their ability to get federally funded Food Stamps to those who are eligible. Nationally, some 26 million people received Food Stamps in 2007 – only 65 per cent of those who meet federal income requirements.
State Participation rate
Missouri 95%
Tennessee 88%
Oregon 86%
Maine 85%
West Virginia
80%
Oklahoma 77%
Louisiana 76%
Arkansas 76%
Kentucky 76%
Michigan 75%
Illinois 75%
Georgia 74%
South Carolina 71%
Indiana 71%
Hawaii 70%
New Mexico
69%
Washington 68%
Vermont 68%
Pennsylvania 68%
Ohio 68%
Alaska 67%
Arizona 66%
Iowa 66%
Delaware 65%
Nebraska 65%
Alabama 65%
U.S. AVERAGE 65%
Minnesota 62%
Connecticut 62%
Virginia 62%
New York
61%
Kansas 61%
Montana 61%
Utah 61%
Mississippi 60%
Texas 60%
Florida 59%
Wisconsin 59%
North Carolina
58%
New Jersey
58%
South Dakota
57%
North Dakota
57%
Rhode Island
56%
Maryland 55%
New Hampshire
55%
Massachusetts 54%
Colorado 54%
California 50%
Nevada 49%
Wyoming 49%
Note: Participation rates were calculated using 2005 data.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
As the economy sputters, states are taking extraordinary measures to help people keep food on the table, and the federal Food Stamps program is their primary tool.
This year, soaring food and energy prices and lost jobs have led a record number of people to enter the program — more than in any year since the program began in 1964. But even as the number of applicants spirals, states are reaching out to millions more who may not realize they are eligible or are reluctant to participate.
Only 65 percent of Americans with incomes low enough to qualify for Food Stamps seek help, leaving many who either go hungry or end up relying on other federal and state assistance programs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the program.
With strapped budgets, states have an incentive to use as much of the open-ended federal food aid program as possible, because none of the money comes out of their pockets. USDA funds 100 per cent of the benefits, while states pay a little more than half of administrative costs.
Spending $36 billion, the Food Stamp program is expected to serve 28 million people nationwide in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2008, an 8 percent increase in participation over the year before, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
“It’s smart for states to promote Food Stamps, because that and unemployment checks often are enough to delay the need for other types of public assistance — such as welfare and Medicaid — that put pressure on state budgets,” said poverty expert Sheri Steisel at the National Conference of State Legislatures. By giving people the money to buy groceries, states also stimulate their local economies, she said.]
I guess survival skills are not innate in humans... Also, if you are lazy and uniformed about basic living needs how is the rest of your life functioning?
She also went to high school on Martha’s Vineyard. Must feel guilty.
>>ROTFLOL! I remember a time when Aldi’s was all we could afford and you’re right, it was nothing but processed carbs. <<
Exactly.
At the time that we did Aldi’s and nothing else, we ate very little meat and lots of frozen veggies. I still gained weight.
People here don’t get it.
I loved when Save-A-Lot opened. They actually had some fresh stuff and chunks of beef for a reasonable price. We ate tons of shishkabobs.
So I think the better solution is what WIC does.
Only give them certain foods on stamps.
When I’m buying HotDogs and the lady in front of me is swiping her Bridge Card to buy Chicken Voila, pre cut and cooked chicken, it makes me ill.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Tamar1973
Now, I admit that the stuff I have on there at the moment isn't all uber-healthy but anything's ok in moderation, IMO. Besides if you make it from scratch, you know what's in it.
That is incredible irony. One could not make that up. But I bet it is lost on her.
Sounds like she is believeing someones “FOLKLORE”. Or her own.
I will die just without my barbeque potato chips. I am feeling week already. Heartstring pulling ...to wag the dog.
I am tempted to e-mail her and ask, “What’s your degree in? Folklore.” I’m not sure I want to be that mean today.
I didn’t learn to cook till I left my mother’s house.
They were not holed up in some taxpayer provide residence, eating taxpayer provided food, being clothed by still other taxpayers or charitable group —— while laying back on their fat asses having babies out of wedlock and “raising” them to be clones of their own worthless asses....
Only in America.....
It a sane world — many if not most of the folks on our welfare roads would be the equivalent of “road kill”....
And frankly - deserve no better in my opinion.
That’s why a lot of my food is Korean/Asian style. My Grandmother never made Turkey Fried Rice. LOL!
Our food pantry’s for the less fortunate are an important part of our stewardship...But I don’t think any of them are handing out junk food. No one would donate.
I’ve never donated junk food to a food pantry and I’ve never heard of a food pantry asking for junk food, except Ramen.
Sure they are. She's doing what works for her survival. She is surviving - and rather well apparently. Cut off the gov't handout and methinks she'd find another way pretty quick.
I can never get used to that Ramen stuff.
Bulk pasta and rice doesn’t cost that much more.
Nice Tamar...
Oh, and by the way, NOT GUILTY! heh, heh.
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