Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart and the 'food desert' problem (Moochelle Want Million$ for Urban Stores)

LA Times ^ | 22 July 11 | Daniela Hernandez

[SkyPilot]

What a first lady, a chain store and others are doing to try to make fresh fruits and vegetables more available in poor communities.

Nothing’s ever as simple as we’d like it to be. A case in point: Policies that simply increase access to supermarkets may not get people to choose an apple over ice cream, a recent study reported.

Changing people’s eating habits is difficult, in other words. One reason is money. Healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and dairy, can often be pricey. For the cost of a couple of peaches, a person can get a full meal on the dollar menu at a fast-food outlet. Another problem: The produce in stores in low income neighborhoods is often of low quality.

This is a hefty problem, given that 1 in every 3 children and adults is overweight or obese. Policy-makers and health-food advocates across the country are developing programs to increase access to healthful foods—and make it easier for people to buy them.

Here's a look at some of them:

-- Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama introduced the California FreshWorks Fund, a $200-million partnership between the California Endowment and grocers, healthcare organizations and financial institutions. The project is meant to promote development of grocery stores, farmers markets, gardening programs and other solutions to increase access to high-quality, healthful foods in areas with limited availability (so-called food deserts). Retailers that offer a greater selection of healthful foods and sell less junk food will get easier access to the grants. Organizers said they hoped the program would create 6,000 jobs in California.

[SkyPilot]

First of all, the article is full of lies. Poor people are not obese simply because eating healthier cost more. What a crock. You can buy sacks of brown rice and apples for pennies on the dollar of what a trip with the family for burgers and fries will cost you.

You can buy 50 lbs of this high grade rice for $32.00.

Secondly, the answer isn't Billions for "Nutrition Education" either. The reason a poor person becomes obese is the same for anyone else: eating garbage, not exercising, and then eating some more.

Third, the reason there are less grocery stores in urban black areas is not because businesses do not wish to make money or to locate there. There are less stores there because they get robbed blind by their customers.

Take on that issue Moochelle!

I remember working in a "welfare" strip mall when I was in high school. It was incredible how much theft and attempted theft was going on 24/7 by the patrons. We used to have to tape the butter packages closed with heavy duty strapping tape, because they would switch the sticks of butter in margarine packages on a daily basis.

With Trillions spent on Food Stamps and every kind of welfare, no one is going hungry. On the contrary, we are the only generation in human history to have "fat poor people."

Finally, can you believe Moochelle! She wants $200 Million to start this ridiculous program, when we are $14400000000000 in debt?

This is what poverty looked like during the Great Depression:

This is what poverty looks like under Obama:

I suspect the reason Moochelle is so into the "obesity" cause is because the single group that is the most obese is black women, and blacks as a race are the most obese. The Obamas are race obsessed, but also government money obsessed, so this is a match made in Marxist heaven.

How obesity has become a part of black culture

[freekitty]

Hopefully soon, Wookie Wide Loads credit card will be cancelled.

[Westbrook]

> Moochelle Want Million$ for Urban Stores

Let the wookie open its own check book.

WAAAGGGHHH!

[forgotten man]

Grocery store chains don’t operate in ghetto areas because of the shoplifting problems. Pure and simple reason.

[GeronL]

We already passed this a couple years ago! Something like a half billion program. Whatever happened to that??

[dragonblustar]

Hopefully soon, Wookie Wide Loads credit card will be cancelled.

The next president will need a forklift to get her ass out.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Simple solution. And it doesn’t cost anything.

Take out the feel good self esteem and the how to use a condom class’s and put back gym.

[freekitty]

LOL So true

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I hate these democrat catch phrases... they go on and on:

Food deserts
Redlining
Big Oil
Net neutrality
Global warming/climate change
Right to choose

[EQAndyBuzz]

Economic conditions don’t make a kid fat or thin. You have three types of kids. Kids who play sports, kids who sit at home and do nothing but play video games and kids who are allergic everything under the sun.

All three will eat McDonalds. Two of the three will be fat.

[PGR88]

Yes, it is a problem!

[Hojczyk]

They will not let WAL_MART in Chicago..What a fool...

[ctdonath2]

This from the A Buck A Plate blog. (http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/):

---

Once we’ve driven the cost of a decent mundane meal under $1, we may wonder what the bottom limit is: how low can we go?

One SWAG at this is to assume a typical adult needs about 2000 calories per day to function. (1200 is the bottom limit for do-nothing metabolism, and we’re not considering lost-at-sea survival scenarios here.) If we ignore nutrition and focus on just filling a belly and having enough energy to keep going, we may choose a cheap grain - rice - and look at what that works out to cost wise.

A 50 lb sack of rice from Costco is about $26. Nutrition data on rice pegs it at 104 calories per dry ounce, requiring 1.2 lbs per day, and working out to $0.208 per meal.

It’s not enjoyable, but in a grind and not looking hard for solutions, looks like at minimum we’ll be shelling out $0.21 per plate just to get by. On the bright side, that’s at least $0.79 to spend on adding flavor & nutrition to that plate: 1/5th basic sustenance, 4/5ths luxuries.

[Figment]

I live in one of these “food deserts” and the picture painted is pure BS. The ones suffering the most from the situation are old people. Mostly old black people.The only time their younger relatives have anything to do with them is on SS check day when they come to mooch or rob them. The grocery stores left this area for good reason

[funfan]

She really does have poor posture among other things. I am so sick of hearing how beautiful and what a fashionista she is. She is an okay looking tall woman with a large frame.
She has an awful wardrobe especially when she is left to dress herself. Oh and I almost forgot she has giant horse teeth and a giant forehead

[PGR88]

Grocery store chains don’t operate in ghetto areas because of the shoplifting problems. Pure and simple reason.

I know a couple who run a grocery in one of the worse areas of Cleveland. They list many issues - shoplifting, costs for security, a narrow range of products are bought (mostly cheap ones, snacks, soda), unreliable employees - they would like to be able to sell out one day, but they know no one would buy their business.

[PGR88]

Grocery store chains don’t operate in ghetto areas because of the shoplifting problems. Pure and simple reason.

I know a couple who run a grocery in one of the worse areas of Cleveland. They list many issues - shoplifting, costs for security, a narrow range of products are bought (mostly cheap ones, snacks, soda), unreliable employees - they would like to be able to sell out one day, but they know no one would buy their business.

[silverleaf]

Moochelle launched a $200 MILLION partnership to set up farmer's markets in the inner city?

From where? Pigford farms??

Can you say “corruption, fraud, affirmative action and slush money?”

[rdcbn]

Aside from the obvious fact that the article is full of lies, for those with the interest to actually open up the LA Times article they will find a “related article” printed on the same LA Times on July 17 2011 in the side bar titled

“Access to grocers doesn't improve diets, study finds”

This article published in the Times last week quotes a legitimate study that directly disproves and contradicts every bit of the rational for Michelle Obama’s food initiative

The text of the original article is at the following URL

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/17/health/la-he-food-deserts-20110712

Somehow, I find this quite humorous and quite disturbing at the same time. You just can't make this stuff up. Nice to see that rigorous fact checking is alive and well at the Times Editorial Board.

[Mike Darancette]

I see many more contributions to “The Girls of Wal*Mart” calendar.