Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries

[OneTimeSBX]

aka_monet, that is true. people arent as inventive as before. hell, i can make 10 different dishes with a pack of ramen noodles lol!

i did a paper for an african-american studies class, and took trips to different Wal-marts in my area. the paper was on the differences in lifestyle/health habits between african americans and other cultures.

so in your "nicer" areas of town (the houses in the surrounding neighborhoods run around 300k+), the food selection was better. you know how they smack big displays in the middle of the aisles? there was wine, nice organic cereals, those chips made from sweet potatoes, etc.

travel about 35 minutes away to the "not so nice" part of town, where there are no houses, just section 8 apartment complexes. their center aisle was AWFUL...those little "hug" juices in the 24 packs, store brand chips, snack cakes...

my conclusion was that stores dont waste the time or money even supplying lower income areas with the same options as the higher class. i cant say i dont agree, who lives in the ghetto and buys organic cereal??

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

aka_monet, that is true. people arent as inventive as before. hell, i can make 10 different dishes with a pack of ramen noodles lol!

i did a paper for an african-american studies class, and took trips to different Wal-marts in my area. the paper was on the differences in lifestyle/health habits between african americans and other cultures.

so in your "nicer" areas of town (the houses in the surrounding neighborhoods run around 300k+), the food selection was better. you know how they smack big displays in the middle of the aisles? there was wine, nice organic cereals, those chips made from sweet potatoes, etc.

travel about 35 minutes away to the "not so nice" part of town, where there are no houses, just section 8 apartment complexes. their center aisle was AWFUL...those little "hug" juices in the 24 packs, store brand chips, snack cakes...

my conclusion was that stores dont waste the time or money even supplying lower income areas with the same options as the higher class. i cant say i dont agree, who lives in the ghetto and buys organic cereal??

SBX....not sure if anyone knew this but I found out a few years ago...that most of those stores in low income areas generally get products that are items that couldn't be sold in the 'better' markets...

Like for instance, if you go to a dollar store and u see a 24oz bottle of Hawaiian Punch, it's because it didn't sell in the market in another neighborhood so when it came time for that store to restock they take the 'old' products off teh shelf and ship it to the lwo income areas....

Same goes for most of the produce...whatever doesn't make it 'up to snuff' or doesn't sell in time but still considered 'fresh' gets shipped elsewhere.

I also seem to remember hearing an incident a while back where some of these stores were changing the freshness dates on meats and chicken sold in low income earea in order to get rid of meat to unsuspecting buyers.

It made news when someone bought some already spoiled (yet frozen) meat and got food poisoning from it.

I need to see if I can find that article.

[OneTimeSBX]

the meat article was on dateline a few months ago...i saw that! i only get my meat from more reliable sources now...and yes i did know about shipping the less popular items to lower income areas. that was something i figured out myself actually!

[squirrely girl]

all of these comments regarding poor shopping/food conditions in inner cities is one of the reasons researchers are turning to geocoding as part of their research. it doesn't make sense to draw conclusions from research without it.

- m

[Rudey]

You all should use freshdirect. It's easier.

-Rudey

[DaemonSeid]

I am not sure if you will be able to get the article as u have to register for it but here it is...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...cmodule&sub=AR

Pangs of Hunger -- and Bit of Guilt

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 22, 2007; Page A13

A pork chop and a bag of peanuts proved too tempting for Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), one of four members of Congress who has struggled for the past week to subsist on $21 worth of food -- the equivalent of benefits received by the average food stamp recipient.

Last Friday night, in New Hampshire to deliver a commencement speech, Ryan succumbed to a pork chop in the hotel restaurant because he feared he would otherwise be too weak to give the address.

See...I am mad that he bought pork chops, one of the foods that for a lot of people leads them to having high blood pressure due to the high sodium content! LOL

Afterward, as he rushed to catch a flight back to Washington, airport security officials confiscated jars of peanut butter and jelly from his carry-on luggage, leaving him with nothing but a small bag of cornmeal to eat in the final days of the "Food Stamp Challenge," which ends today.

"It just showed me that when you're living on food stamps, you're really one event away from disaster," he said. "If you drop a jar of sauce or jam, you can lose an opportunity to eat. Some people are constantly living on that edge."

So yesterday, in the Cleveland airport on his way back to Washington from a funeral, Ryan bought a bag of peanuts. "I feel bad I couldn't do it the whole time, but I certainly got the point," said the lawmaker, who lost four pounds during the week and ended his test early, with dinner at a Washington restaurant last night.

He said he came away with two lessons: He made some poor choices when he shopped for the $21 worth of food, and the country's food stamp program is not sufficient for the 26 million Americans who rely on it.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

See...I am mad that he bought pork chops, one of the foods that for a lot of people leads them to having high blood pressure due to the high sodium content! LOL

There is no evidence that meat, especially pork, causes hypertension directly. Either treated or undertreated. Cardiovascular disease is a complex disease with mutant genes, environment and poor habits. Consuming processed porcine products occasionally will not hurt someone. People only choose not to eat these products due to beliefs or lifestyle.

I am a vegetarian, so I choose not to consume any muscle or fat products. I only consume some dairy but that is not by a preference, it is when i do not have options at the dining table.

He said he came away with two lessons: He made some poor choices when he shopped for the $21 worth of food, and the country's food stamp program is not sufficient for the 26 million Americans who rely on it.

First, this man is suppose to educated at some level. How is he making poor choices and what does a poor choice mean?

And 26 million people are relying on foodstamps to feed themselves... Some on GC said let them starve and die. Some of GC are wondering of ways to improve it. So, if we are to have a foodstamp program, how will we make it more sufficient? Better yet, more healthly and efficient?