A couple of things that I heard on the radio sparked my interest and needed commenting on.
First, some employers are opting for a four day go-to-work week and one day of working from home. Why? To boost morale or take advantage of the nice summer weather? Nope. To save their employees on gas. Really? So the economy suffers fairly dramatically by having employees "work from home" one day a week in the name of saving them from spending the money on gas? Maybe the economy will pick up by the $8 in gas per employee they save versus the several hundred dollars in productivity based on statistical averages. Good call. Douche bags.
Another thing I heard was a term that described something Ricardo and I have discussed in the past, but didn't really name. The term is Food Apartheid. If you Google it, you'll get several hits including an article in the Washington Post. Ricardo and I have an office near the old Cabrini Green housing projects, so we have some experience with the lack of food options. Currently there is a Dominick's in the middle of what used to be the ghetto that is our work neighborhood, but it wasn't always that way. From what we can tell, the only place to buy food was this shack that just recently closed up along Division Street, or at least what looks like a shack next the relatively nice row houses that surround it. The only thing you were going to buy there was a bag of Funions and some malt liquor.
So is it really a poor (economically speaking) minority's fault that they are obese if they don't have accessed to reasonably priced and reasonably fresh fruits and vegetables? This generation has that access, at least in the one neighborhood that I'm talking about, but their parents didn't and they determine the eating habits of their kids early on. It's quite sad actually.
One of the projects Ricardo and I worked on involved a company with hydroponic technology which can grow vegetables inside a warehouse without dirt. My thought was to use some of the abandon high rises which haven't been torn down for five years, to grow some fresh produce. If it only has to be delivered three blocks, imagine how fresh and good it would be.
Just some of the things we think about while getting our afternoon coffee.
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6 comments:
do you think food availability is race related, or poverty related? Stores probably scout locations where research indicates ppl will most likely spend money. It could have more to do with crime and personal income levels that stores stay away than prejudice.
Oh, you're absolutely right Alexis and I shouldn't have put in the minority reference. It should have been simply "the poor" regardless of race. I don't even think it's crime as much as it is the personal income that keeps the stores out.
As usual some very thoughtful and deep things - amidst the rants :)
Oh yes. I remember a while back they mapped out grocery store locations on the South Side by income and it was really striking.
Hi Joe - I did some research on this for one of my committees last year. These deserts are most prevalent on the south and west sides of the city. Many of the children in these areas depend on school lunches for their only nutritious meals throughout the day. CPS provides meals to kids at a rate of 50 cents a meal (if memory serves me correct, it's either 50 cents a meal or student and each student gets 1.5 meals a day if needed i.e. lunch + snack). Granted, they're not the best meals on the planet, but like you said, they're not Funions and a 40 oz either.
Check out http://www.organicschoolproject.org/
This organization is fab and the food is yummy (I'm speaking from experience...)!!
Actually, Joe, I used to live in that neighborhood many years ago and shopped at that Dominick's. Even though the poorer residents shopped there as well, they did with food stamps in hand so at the checkout line, you'd see the Gold Coasters (I never considered myself one, I'm not even sure what I was doing there) with carts full of steak and fresh produce while the Cabrini Green residents had carts full of Kool-Aid and fried chicken. It was sad and uncomfortable. You really felt awkward for being in a better place, especially when the little kids stared at your full cart longingly.
I read an article in the Tribune a couple of years ago (not sure if it's related to Katie's research) about how convenience stores -- not even supermarkets, because proper ones don't open in the areas she refers to -- only stock up on bad crap because that's the only thing the people can afford. You know, demand dictates supply. It's awful and sometimes you just have to be thankful for even picking up a gallon of (unexpired) milk, I think.
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