The other day I was traveling through a community labeled “up and coming”… This means in a nutshell the community was considered not ideal to live nor a safe area, yet it has gone through a transitional period where the elements that were deemed negative are slowly moving away. Thus, a new era with economical promise is moving in. I noticed how each and every corner there was either a “liquor/deli store, fast food restaurant with bulletproof windows, and the usual mom & pop small restaurant” I wondered, where is the supermarket? Where is the access to vegetables? Local produce?
As it were, all that I was able to find were overpriced frozen meals and an abundance of processed foods.
The researcher in me, then started also asking, who lives in the neighborhood… Why do people live this in neighborhood? As it turns out, the economics are also working against them. The minimum wage in California is close to $9.00. A vast number of people make the minimum wage if not less, due to citizenship status. According to the Labor Department Statistics & Housing Authority, for you to live in this area comfortably for a family of three people (mom, dad, and son), the sole provider must make at least $16.00 per hour, and rent cannot surpass 29% of their monthly salary. How is this possible? Specially, when unemployment in California is over 10%, most people spent over 35% (average) on rent, and the cost of food goes up every year by almost 4.5% according to the USDA & ERS; yet the minimum wage does not seems to go up.
Third, I also asked how many of these people actually have healthcare, access to education, and access to a nutritionist. The answer, you guessed it, plenty of them don’t have access to it. Usually, they wait until they are very ill to take an average trip to the emergency room (public hospital) for treatment (according to the State Report on Health & Emergency & Census).
Fourth, I made a phone call to the local school district to find out about the meals being served to the local kids. According to the National Lunch Program;
School lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one‐third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories. School lunches must meet Federal nutrition requirements, but decisions about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities. (Excerpt from the National Food Program Document)
Now, what scares me a little is that “local school food and specific food and how they are prepared are made by local authority”. That’s means, that if a processed cheeseburger where I have no idea where the meat came from (it was probably processed by Ammonia) as long that it is under 30% of a child calorie of fat, then it is ok for them to eat ( see this).
Well guess what, the meals for this week are chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, hot dogs, and sugary milk. Then I asked, is it the cost? If the cost of food why this school district has leaned towards processed food as it is more cost effective than nutritious food? As it turns out, it is not the case; there are 100s of best practices and cases, such as San Francisco Unified School District. The Director of Operations Nancy Waymack, took a stand by simply saying, “No one gets a cinnamon roll for breakfast”. Another program like Farm To School.org that creates linkages and access to local foods to schools.
Then, my question is, why this is not happening? Why we are not having a discussion? Why are we overweight? Is it the economy? The System? Today, even obesity is now considered a disease, therefore there are 100+ of drugs to cure it. According to the Online Dieter Research Report, the United States Industry for weight loss is over $60 Billion Dollars. Then what’s missing?
I don’t have all the answers to the question above as they are wicked problems whereas only perhaps tame solutions would alleviate the situation… All that I know is that the city which will rename nameless for now, will see my involvement at a bigger scale… It’s time to take a stand… and seek the answers to my questions… The question to you is… Can you identify? Is this happening in your neighborhood?
Some thoughts,
Dr. Hiram S
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