Mandatory?.....Hell, we'll all be living out of shopping carts before too long!..............
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.
“delivering staple food items in poor neighborhoods
anyone else see the inherent problem with this? “
Hmmm—staples like the crap one can buy with foodstamps like chips, cookies, pizza, etc?
Yep, you get the point -
if they received some veggies, raw hamburger, a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, a dozen eggs, and a gallon of milk,
they’d say “where’s the food?”
Mandatory?.....Hell, we'll all be living out of shopping carts before too long!..............
You're talking about a serious, "go-camping-in-the-wilderness" backpack...not a typical size one that a student might use for carrying books, or a cyclist might have.
Even if I agreed with your proposition that "most people" could carry 40 lbs. The idea is preposterous because it's impractical to do this on a routine basis.
I live in a suburban locale, about 15 minutes from a mid-western city. It's by no means remote. However, it would be a two-mile walk one-way to the grocery store. Sidewalks would be pretty much non-existent outside of my neighborhood, and I'd have to cross 4 lanes of traffic where no crosswalks were anticipated.
But let's say I ignored the safety issues present, and walked anyway. I'd still be faced with a minimum of a 30-minute walk to the store, and that would be hoofing it. 30 minutes to walk to the store, another 45-60 minutes to shop (average time), and probably 45 minutes back to my house. If I planned correctly, I could do this on the weekend, but that's 2.5-3 hours wasted.
If we got to some post-apocalyptic version of our country and I had to do this to survive, I would. But now, why? We live in a country where we shouldn't have to walk 5 miles to the "community well" for fresh water. It's called civilization, which should be the by-product of our hard work, productivity, and ingenuity.
LOL. Have you seen the physical shape of the average American? Granted it's easier to carry 40 lbs in a backback but the average American could not do it at that.
Heck the average American can't walk a mile without a backpack.
"...and if you think I'm gonna use a bicycle basket or backpack or pull-cart to git my fries to my mouth, you got another thing comin' to you, you little hoi polloi peons.
Same here - does that mean I’m old?
When I was young and my son was old enough to walk, we would walk a mile to the supermarket closest to our apartment house and bring groceries back in a backpack and in his stroller.
Then I could afford a house in a suburb, and no stores were within three miles, so car required.
Now I am in an upscale beach community and it is one mile up the hill to a small grocery and two miles up the hill to a QFC. Another mile up to a Fred Meyer. I have walked to all of these and toted groceries back in a backpack, but generally drive there, except for the little store, only a mile away. I would feel foolish driving there.
I guess I have lived my whole life, as a small business owner, in a food desert. Who knew that the gubmint was shirking its responsibility to me?
My nearest license plate office is over 20 miles away. Their arcane and stupid rules made me return FOUR TIMES to get a set of license plates because they couldn’t understand simple procedures.
I live on a sailboat and I routinely walk to the nearest grocery store, which is about 2.2mi, around 4 1/2mi round trip, at least every two to three days...
There is a bus that would take me part of the way...but walking is pretty good exercise for me, I don’t care for a bicycle...I’ve kind of gotten into a semi-speedwalking rhythym that gets me moving, and it’s good for my back...throw in some kung foolery and occaisonal heavy lifting and that’s my middle aged exercise plan.
Where I am is pretty urban, it keeps you on your toes...people lose perspective when they’re too cocooned in their safety zones.
When I first moved aboard, I would walk to the store and take the bus back, then when I felt good, forget the bus and carry the groceries back. Then I got so used to it I forgot about the bus. There’s another store I occaisonally go to where they have cheap deli style bread...it’s 5mi one way, but bread is a light load.
I only do this for groceries, by the way. If a friend is going to the hardware store, or if need to go to the mall, I get a ride or a bus or a cab...only for groceries do I walk. And I only get enough for a day or two at a time, so I walk regular. I found an empty cupboard is a great incentive to exercise, I’m not dragging my feet when my lunch is at the other end ;^)
I quite agree that the route to a store is often challenging or even highly dangerous on foot, or on a bike for that matter.
I also agree that it is time-consuming and impractical for many.
However, it is quite obvious looking around that most Americans could stand to get a little more exercise. I think one of the big problems we have as a society is the fact that “exercise” has changed from being a part of our lives, as in walking to the store, and become something you go somewhere to do. This leads to the somewhat silly prospect of people driving 5 miles to the gym in order to walk 5 miles on a treadmill.
The problem is that it is far easier to skip going to the gym than going to the grocery store. If getting needed exercise were part of other aspects of our life rather than a separate part, I think most of us would do it better.
I have personal experience with this. About 10 years ago, I cut out driving whenever possible at all for six months. I commuted by bike 26 miles round-trip every day to work and put in another 50 to 75 miles per week on other business, including grocery shopping (backpack and bicycle baskets). Put only 400 miles on the car in six months.
Lost 52 pounds and 40 points off my blood pressure.
Then I had a wreck and broke my pelvis in 5 places. Which kind of put a stop to the experiment for a while. :)
I realize that many won’t consider such a lifestyle change. For some it’s just not possible and others prefer not to do so. I would never consider trying to make such changes mandatory or force people into them.
But I do think moving in this direction would be good for both those who did so and the country as a whole.
Reminds me of Jeff Dunham's Walter joke...
See post 71.
Thereby proving what idiots Moochelle and the leftists are. What they are talking about is kids walking 4 - 5 MILES or more EVERY day and adults should WALK 15 - 20 MILES EVERY day!!
First, I want to see Moochelle set the example by doing it herself - EVERY DAY for at least 3 months. Not just once for a photo op.
But, secondly (and, more important), ever heard of school and work . . . . . . . you ignorant morons!!???
I remember when I was younger, they had these "Presidential Fitness Awards" for doing so many things in gym class: running, pushups, situps, etc. Looking back, there didn't seem to be any political agenda behind them, and that kind of general public service message is probably acceptable.
Today, these forced lifestyle changes are anything but apolitical.
That is my first thought whenever I hear the term “Food Desert.”
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“the administration’s definition of a “food desert” (being a mile away from a grocery store)”
My kids were raise in a Food Desert, an Education Desert and a Health Desert. Somehow, they turned out healthy and educated.
Heh, didn’t see it that way but you are right, it can be taken two ways.
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