@Runnindemredlights wrote:
Food deserts are very common in poor neighborhoods. The lack of availability of food to poor people is NOT a personal responsibility problem, it is a corporate and government problem. In France and Europe, the countries actively ban and suppress processed foods. Those actions are not personal actions, it is their society and government.
@tstewart3 wrote:
@Runnindemredlights wrote:
Food deserts are very common in poor neighborhoods. The lack of availability of food to poor people is NOT a personal responsibility problem, it is a corporate and government problem. In France and Europe, the countries actively ban and suppress processed foods. Those actions are not personal actions, it is their society and government.
It's a personal choice where you live and what you eat. The government is not there to play "daddy" and solve all your problems.
@Shop-et-al wrote:
There is one other thing I wanted to mention about linking people to food at home. I found the idea in a 1970's-ish book about co-operative cooking. The basics: As a team, members of multiple families or other groups will develop recipes, contribute money, designate a shopper/-s, and share basic food prep tasks. Then, everyone eats for a month or other time frame. For example, if they choose spaghetti, they would make enough marinara for everyone at one time. Everyone would cook their own pasta and add the pre-made sauce. Sodium and sugars are controlled, if necessary. Variations are possible, if people are willing to experiment with recipes. One basic cookie dough can be the basis for dozens of different cookies. If a group wants cookies, it would be easy to start with the basic dough and make whatever they want. 'This would work well with some (not all!) breads. Buying in bulk might save everyone some money. Doing some food prep at one time might save everyone even more time later. (I do this on a small, one-household scale. I do not have to vet the communal shoppers or hope that all the earmarked money buys the designated food or teach anyone how to wield a kitchen knife properly.) I wonder if anyone here has experience with a larger-scale operation and could tell us if this works well or not.
@MFJohnston wrote:
That's kind of line the old idea of a commune...
@Shop-et-al wrote:
There is one other thing I wanted to mention about linking people to food at home. I found the idea in a 1970's-ish book about co-operative cooking. The basics: As a team, members of multiple families or other groups will develop recipes, contribute money, designate a shopper/-s, and share basic food prep tasks. Then, everyone eats for a month or other time frame. For example, if they choose spaghetti, they would make enough marinara for everyone at one time. Everyone would cook their own pasta and add the pre-made sauce. Sodium and sugars are controlled, if necessary. Variations are possible, if people are willing to experiment with recipes. One basic cookie dough can be the basis for dozens of different cookies. If a group wants cookies, it would be easy to start with the basic dough and make whatever they want. 'This would work well with some (not all!) breads. Buying in bulk might save everyone some money. Doing some food prep at one time might save everyone even more time later. (I do this on a small, one-household scale. I do not have to vet the communal shoppers or hope that all the earmarked money buys the designated food or teach anyone how to wield a kitchen knife properly.) I wonder if anyone here has experience with a larger-scale operation and could tell us if this works well or not.
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
Keep in mind that employees would no longer have deductions from their pay for group medical, and employers would not be forking out double again that, like they currently do. Public taxes already cover Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and various plans for government employees. It is a double-dip in the cheque: a deduction for your own medical plan plus one for the ones you don't qualify for on account of having the one you pay for.
Having that one extra deduction, for the universal medical plan, would be lower than the combined deductions we currently have for many, if not most, people. (I experienced this when I moved to the States from Ontario. I thought my take-home would be more because I had bought into the concept of taxes being lower. My take-home was a bit less, proportionally, and yet I still had co-pays and the employer's plan had lists of providers they would cover in-network. In Canada, I never put off a trip to the doctor when I was sick becaue I was waiting for pay-day for my co-pay. You see that all the time, here.
@tstewart3 wrote:
Medicare is not funded by "public taxes". Medicare tax is 1.45% with no wage base limit (all wages are subject to Medicare tax) and an additional 1.45% of employee wages paid for by the employer. Additionally, self employed people pay Medicare tax of 2.9 percent on "Self employment earnings" (but you are able to deduct the employer portion).
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
(Not everyone understands the concept of a food desert. It is not always a possible choice to up and move to suburbia where the grocery stores are. If a gas station is your closest grocery store, and you have no access to a car, you get what you can. Your grocery budget does not go as far at a gas station as it would at a grocery store. )
@Shop-et-al wrote:
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
(Not everyone understands the concept of a food desert. It is not always a possible choice to up and move to suburbia where the grocery stores are. If a gas station is your closest grocery store, and you have no access to a car, you get what you can. Your grocery budget does not go as far at a gas station as it would at a grocery store. )
Interesting point. Let's take one more step and compare the cost of foods at gas stations versus those available online. (As long as delivery services can get to you, you can pretty good food via the internet )
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
@Shop-et-al wrote:
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
(Not everyone understands the concept of a food desert. It is not always a possible choice to up and move to suburbia where the grocery stores are. If a gas station is your closest grocery store, and you have no access to a car, you get what you can. Your grocery budget does not go as far at a gas station as it would at a grocery store. )
Interesting point. Let's take one more step and compare the cost of foods at gas stations versus those available online. (As long as delivery services can get to you, you can pretty good food via the internet )
You must live in an urban area. Rural food deserts are way out of range for Uber. Some grocery stores in urban areas are starting to deliver, which is fantastic. Aldi is starting to pop up in some underserved areas as well.
Ever met anyone who did not have a debit card or paypal? It's a thing. Not everyone can open one. That is why Western Union makes money hand-over-fist with bill payment and money order processing. There are extra financial fees that can come with being poor: Cheque cashing, bill payments, money orders, prepaid debit cards for online shopping. Right off the bat, someone without access to a bank account will pay extra for the means to order anything online.
@MFJohnston wrote:
All physicians have some training in nutrition - though not as much as a nutritionist, of course. They should have information on hand about different diets to recommend to folks based on various needs, especially for something as prevalent as diabetes. At the least, they should be able to refer a friend to somebody who can work with a patient's diet. Adjusting the eating habits of a patient is a basic standard of care for diabetics.
I think you friend needs a new doctor.
@stormraven73 wrote:
@MFJohnston wrote:
All physicians have some training in nutrition - though not as much as a nutritionist, of course. They should have information on hand about different diets to recommend to folks based on various needs, especially for something as prevalent as diabetes. At the least, they should be able to refer a friend to somebody who can work with a patient's diet. Adjusting the eating habits of a patient is a basic standard of care for diabetics.
I think you friend needs a new doctor.
Actually, the average nutrition education for a MD is a single lecture during their entire med school.
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
@Shop-et-al wrote:
@heartlandcanuck wrote:
(Not everyone understands the concept of a food desert. It is not always a possible choice to up and move to suburbia where the grocery stores are. If a gas station is your closest grocery store, and you have no access to a car, you get what you can. Your grocery budget does not go as far at a gas station as it would at a grocery store. )
Interesting point. Let's take one more step and compare the cost of foods at gas stations versus those available online. (As long as delivery services can get to you, you can pretty good food via the internet )
You must live in an urban area. Rural food deserts are way out of range for Uber. Some grocery stores in urban areas are starting to deliver, which is fantastic. Aldi is starting to pop up in some underserved areas as well.
Ever met anyone who did not have a debit card or paypal? It's a thing. Not everyone can open one. That is why Western Union makes money hand-over-fist with bill payment and money order processing. There are extra financial fees that can come with being poor: Cheque cashing, bill payments, money orders, prepaid debit cards for online shopping. Right off the bat, someone without access to a bank account will pay extra for the means to order anything online.