"food Deserts" And Health

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/13/tulsa-and-birmingham-politicians-block-dollar-stor/


Good morning all,

Per ...

Didn't realize I live in a food desert because of distance to stores.

 

Stupidity...People these days don't cook. If it can't be popped in a microwave or just dumped out of a can into a pot it doesn't get eaten. That means that you can offer all the fresh food that you want in a store and it isn't going to make any difference. Most younger people don't use their oven except to heat up pizzas and many probably can't cook instant mashed potatoes.

 

When living in the West Midlands in the UK a number of years ago, I was astounded by the "frozen" stores, which we don't have here. They were like supermarkets, except they were full of banks and banks of freezers exclusively selling frozen foods.

Incredibly, a lot of these foods were ridiculously cheap compared to buying "fresh" food. To this day, I can't fathom how these foods can be so cheap, when you factor in all the processes to get the food from raw to packaged (and in some instances, cooked as well).

I didn't even realise you could buy frozen roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

So (depending on the area) I think it comes down to convenience (i.e. laziness) and cost, especially in poor areas.

 

Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that aspect. Thanks.

Thinking further on it after your post, I was reading in our local rag that the two major supermarkets (specifically Coles and Woolworths) distributed tonnes and tonnes of fresh produce on a regular basis to homeless shelters and various charity organisations.

In the aftermath of the bushfires, both have been and are contributing by sending tonnes of produce to fire fighters, charity organisations in support of evacuees and food to animal hospitals throughout the country, in support of all the animals (mainly koalas, or at least they're the ones that get the most news coverage) that have been injured in the fires.

Given that scenario, and being quite a cynic, I can't see them sending pristine, fresh produce, which gives rise to the question of how much produce do they end up either throwing out or giving away, because it isn't up to consumer satisfaction?

So I think you're probably onto something.

 

You just quite accurately describing ME

 

Economy of Scale

 

Fortunately for me, I like simple food. I cook a lot of pot roasts, soups & stews, beans and rice, steak and potato, and such. I also cook outside either on the BBQ pit or in the smoker. These are all things that will be easy and are what I cook on a campfire when camping. My wife cooks a lot of Cajun and Mexican both of which are also simple foods. There are very few of my favorite meals that I will be unable to cook without an electric stove or oven.

We eat out some but that is because we have more money than we used to. Being poor was great training for hard times. We generally have a pretty low food cost, most of our entertainments are homespun like playing games and reading or writing. My wife and I also both came from families that gardened, farmed and had livestock. We both were raised growing, canning and preserving food. That makes a difference too.

 

I am pretty much the same as Tex in as far as eating habits. Everything I cook can be cooked (and frequently is when there is no fire ban) outside on the barbie or in a camp oven (even cakes). So I don't need a standard indoor cooker, I can easily make do without if necessary and often by choice.

And yes, being poor is great training for hard times. The difference now is I used to buy cheap cuts of steak, now I buy the more expensive cuts. I'm also very lucky as both my son and daughter in law are horticulturists with extensive nursery experience, so we grow our own fruit and veggies.