Closing Thought–07Jan20

We are always looking for someone to blame for the poor nutrition of our children…..and we have found a new foes….Dollar Stores…..

This latest front in the food wars has emerged over the last few years. Communities like Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Fort Worth, Birmingham, and Georgia’s DeKalb County have passed restrictions on dollar stores, prompting numerous other communities to consider similar curbs. New laws and zoning regulations limit how many of these stores can open, and some require those already in place to sell fresh food. Behind the sudden disdain for these retailers—typically discount variety stores smaller than 10,000 square feet—are claims by advocacy groups that they saturate poor neighborhoods with cheap, over-processed food, undercutting other retailers and lowering the quality of offerings in poorer communities. An analyst for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, for instance, argues that, “When you have so many dollar stores in one neighborhood, there’s no incentive for a full-service grocery store to come in.” Other critics, like the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, go further, contending that dollar stores, led by the giant Dollar Tree and Dollar General chains, sustain poverty by making neighborhoods seem run-down. “It’s a recipe for locking in poverty rather than reducing it,” an institute representative told the Washington Post early this year.

https://www.city-journal.org/banning-dollar-stores

Sorry but blaming a store is just lazy and avoids responsibility…..

We could fix the problem of children’s nutrition….make healthy food cheaper….yep it is that simple……and yet not possible in our current society.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s All Michelle’s Fault!

Keeping with the subject of the day, education, I want to talk about my fave part of the school day….lunch.

Well we know that there are those that just cannot resist blaming Obama for everything from terrorism to the rapid increase in hemorrhoids…..in the past many millionaires have jumped on the bandwagon about what our children eat and drink….they spend hours condemning parents for their choices of food for the family…..the problem is that not one of them works for minimum wage and have to prepare food on a budget….they simply piss and moan……but they do have a valid point.

The Prez and his wife started a White House garden trying to bring a new understanding to nutrition……..the act has been praised and condemned, depending on where you stand politically…that in itself is the height of stupidity…….the government set standards that school lunches most adhere to and of course there is a blow back……..this one is one of my fave pieces on the school lunch nutrition program……..

Schools are struggling to adhere to new government rules on healthy lunches, and school officials are asking Washington to step back. “The regulations are so prescriptive, so it’s difficult to manage not only the nutrition side of your businesses but the business side of your business,” a school nutrition director says. Among the concerns are a requirement that grain products like pasta be whole-grain rich by next school year—a rule kids don’t find particularly appetizing, officials say.

The School Nutrition Association is asking Congress and the USDA to lower the whole-grain requirement so that it only applies to 50% of offerings, the AP reports. The association would also like to suspend new sodium limits and ditch the requirement that all meals come with a fruit or vegetable. “If the kids don’t eat the food, then all I have is healthy trash cans,” says another nutrition director. Teenagers, the Wire reports, have found a target for their food frustration: “I blame Michelle Obama,” says one, while another says “it’s gotta be a combination of Michelle and the servers at the school.” Obama did back the law that implemented the changes. But according to a nutrition advocate, Obama is a “cheerleader” for the program, while the USDA actually makes the rules.

How dare the Prez and the first lady support our children eating more healthy….the audacity….the arrogance….civilization is DOOMED!  Did you hear me……DOOMED!

God I love these people!  For without them I would have a lot less to write about.  Please keep them talking!