In AIS for the past few weeks we've been talking about how your socio-economic level effects your health. While driving we saw 17 McDonald's only on Sheridan before we took Green Bay, and numerous chain restaurants such as Wendy's, Burger King, and Arby's. The only grocery store we saw was on the border of Wisconsin, it was an Aldi. Aldi is known for it's low-prices and also for its lowish quality food and is mostly found in low-income areas. It is so distressing to see so little real food being offered in these areas. Why do lower income areas not deserve low-quality foods? Can't good foods be brought into low-income areas at reasonable prices?
Places like Urban Organic bring organic foods at lower prices to New York City. On their website they also offer cheap, healthy recipes that people can create using healthy foods. Initiatives like this are steps in the right direction but for real change, many more of these urban organic ideas are going to need to be pushed through. It doesn't necessarily need to be organic food, in my opinion, but I think that creating a balanced diet with a lot of fruits and veggies and lean protein for lower-income families would help so many things.
According to the US Department of Health & Human Services, African-American men are 40% more likely to develop heart disease than their white counterparts. That, in conjunction with the fact that 24.7% of African-Americans live below the poverty line compared to 12% of Non-hispanic caucasians (Found HERE), shows a strong correlation between poverty and heart disease, which probably has to do with what I saw; a lack of nutrition in the urban poor life.
It was so alarming to see how much things could change in only a few miles from my house to these areas.
Places like Urban Organic bring organic foods at lower prices to New York City. On their website they also offer cheap, healthy recipes that people can create using healthy foods. Initiatives like this are steps in the right direction but for real change, many more of these urban organic ideas are going to need to be pushed through. It doesn't necessarily need to be organic food, in my opinion, but I think that creating a balanced diet with a lot of fruits and veggies and lean protein for lower-income families would help so many things.
According to the US Department of Health & Human Services, African-American men are 40% more likely to develop heart disease than their white counterparts. That, in conjunction with the fact that 24.7% of African-Americans live below the poverty line compared to 12% of Non-hispanic caucasians (Found HERE), shows a strong correlation between poverty and heart disease, which probably has to do with what I saw; a lack of nutrition in the urban poor life.
It was so alarming to see how much things could change in only a few miles from my house to these areas.
Chloe, I had a similar experience to yours when my basketball team played an away game at Waukegan last year. As soon as we got close to the school there was a noticeable change in environment. I remember someone saying, "There's the first liquor store since Evanston." And they were mostly right Waukegan seemed to have more stores selling booze than groceries. So I thought that alcohol must play a role in the health gap between races. But when I went to research statistics to back that up what I found surprised me. Although African-Americans have a higher rate of illegal drug use, instances of alcoholism and overall amount of alcohol consumed is significantly lower among blacks than whites. While it's possible that the reason for this is because black families simply do a better job steering their children away from alcohol, I think there is a more plausible economic based reason. Alcohol is taxed in the United States because it is known to be dangerous to health. Thus, the high prices turn away many poorer blacks. This proves that when the price is high people will look for alternatives (in some cases illegal drugs). I believe taxing food that is known to be potentially harmful as well as lowering the price of healthy foods would have a similar effect.
ReplyDeleteMax:
ReplyDeleteI think thats a really valid point, and I do think that taxing substances (be it cigarettes, alcohol, or fast food) that are known to be harmful does deter some people from consuming said substances. However, I don't know how those who can afford illegal substances (such as cocaine or heroin or marijuana) which are much more expensive than a 12 pack of beer, have a lower rate of alcoholism. I would really like to know why there is a smaller number of blacks under the poverty line who drink than those who use illicit substances. Could there be a social aspect to it? There also could be a correlation between an increase of illegal drug use in blacks below the poverty line and a higher number of blacks in jail for substance related crimes, such as drug dealing and possession than whites.
Chlo Scho, Your meta post is thoughtful and your blog has covered a nice range of topics. this particular post is especially thoughtful -- and I really like the exchange with Max. (For the record, poor people do not use cocaine. Crack is much cheaper than any of the drugs you mention and it's mightily addictive. it'd be worth your while to explore its introduction to the U.S. and its devastating impact on low income neighborhoods).
ReplyDeleteHow cool that you thought critically on your road trip. Great also that you furthered the conversation with a link to provocative data. Well done.
(One last thing, my former student Sam Kass is a aworld class chef -- now in the White House -- who attempted to bring great food to poor people in Chicago. Check out his ongoing project at Hull House).