July 4: United We Waddle

by chekov Wed Jul 10, 2002 15:41

I used to live in NYC in a poor, predominantly Dominican neighbourhood. There was no fresh food availalble in my neighbourhood. The shops were stocked with tinned hot dogs and such other good stuff. There was a mcdonalds, a fried chicken place, a chinese take away and a mexican take away. The food they served was all appallingly fatty and un-nutritious, but cheap and in large portions (except mcdonalds).

To survive in NYC I had to spend the vast majority of my time working, when I wasn't working I didn't have the money or the time to travel accross the city to the expensive upper-class supermarkets which were the only place that fresh food could be found.

It's no surprise that the poor are fat, it's not their fault and can't be held against them.

by Yankee Noodle Roni Mon Jul 08, 2002 05:41

You can play with your statistics all you want Ronny. But the truth is that the US is a rich country whose people are, on the the whole, well off.

Look at the present level of political consciousness in the US. It cannot support even the most tame social democratic reforms--like universal health insurance.

The median per capita income of this cesspool has been growing over the past two decades.

Why dwell in illusions? It will only confuse you when you realize the People are not rising up.
Hell, they are going to Old Navy to get some sweat shop wear.

The factor that makes something like the 10% statistic possible is racism and national oppression. Illegals, blacks, and Latinos do make less. which can be bad in New York--but even there fat ass middle classes are breeding (excluding illegals--until they get their papers)

And that still leaves 90%! So why aren't the O-pressed Masses rebelling? Because they are a myth in America. A mere fraction of a class looking forward to their coming of fat ass.

I repeat. Wise up. EAT THE RICH(AMERICANS)!

by Ronald Mc D'honilld Sun Jul 07, 2002 16:28

With regards to the "fat american" myth:

1) Over-proliferation of, and the agressive business tactics of McDonalds, Burger King, etc make said outlets numerous and cheap. Also, the marketing blurb from these companies attempts to convince one their food is not unhealthy.

2) 10% of workers in New York do not even make subsistance wages when the cost of living in the area is taken into account. The US might be the richest nation in the world, but it's also the most unequal in terms of wealth distrubution with little in the way of a national health service. Also, an increasing number of people (like here in Ireland) who work for employment agencies and not directly to companies (Marlborogh or IT Alliance style - if anyone has had the displeasure to work for either). These do not provide any kind of medical services to their employees, dispite taking a substantial bite out of one's paycheck.

The point being, if someone finds themselves in the unfortunate position of being dangerously overweight and has not the money to see a doctor, there is little to assist them either from employers or the state or the manufacturers of the heart attack slop that put them in such a position in the first place.

by Yankee Doodle Ronny Sat Jul 06, 2002 08:12

Talk about rubbish! Let's feel sorry for the poor Americans! come on!

I AM an American. And let me tell you no more venal, myopic people have existed in history.

Do you hear me? the US is a CESSPOOL.

the US consumes a great proportion of the world's resources, and its not just in fattening junk food.

Do the world a favor. Become ANT-AMERICAN.

Then maybe these congenital murdering buzzards will be stopped from destroying the world.

I know of what I speak. I live in the damn place.

by GluttonMan Sat Jul 06, 2002 01:09

At least the top poster says that it's a "myth". However he then goes on to wonder why Americans are fat.

Interestingly recent studies reveal that obesity in the USA is largely a phenomenon of households that have experienced an instability in food supply.

That's right! poor people tend to be fatter than rich people. Households in which malnutrition existed or had existed showed a high correlation with the presence of obesity.

So, yeah, let's all laugh at those fat Americans. Let's laugh at people that live in one of the richest countries in the world and are robbed blind by generations of reformist liberal politicians and social democrats and trickle-down capitalist entrepeneurs.

Let's forget that millions in the USA don't have consistent, guaranteed access to food supplies, health care and housing.

Let's victimize them and blame them for the actions of the "educated" upper and middle classes that run the capitalist monstrosity.

The most detailed study available is from Nature and suggests that the absence of even a fucking supermarket that sells fresh food in a poor neighbourhood forces people into choosing the tinned and packaged rubbish.

Some excerpts:
"More than half of the women who reported not having enough to eat were overweight, compared to 34% of food-secure women. This study - the first to examine the relationship between hunger and obesity with such a large number of people - challenges the stereotype that people are overweight only because they're too well-fed."
Poor neighbourhoods often lack large grocery stores, forcing people, especially those without cars, to shop at small, local convenient stores which stock little fresh fruit or vegetables but plenty of high-fat, high-starch processed food, says Tidball.

Those short on time and money often resort to cheap fast food and sugar-laden drinks. And many lack the knowledge to recognize the value, for example, of fruit juice over fruit-flavoured sugar drinks. Indeed, the study found higher levels of obesity among poorly educated women."

It is admitted that the evidence is correlative and doesn't clearly demonstrate causality and that more work needs to be done to factor out family medial history.

Still, lets all have a good laugh at the poor, fat people and blame them for the USA!

by BlackPope Fri Jul 05, 2002 10:17 BlackPope at operamail dot com A Cave-Hideout someplace near Europe !!

No reason given, as per the standard there.

Also, stuff by Steve Bell of the Guardian, Desmond Tutu, Norman Finkelstein and many other left-wing heroes can be found in the bin there!!

Seems like Mossad's Thoughtpolice themselves are running the site!!

Schalom, BlackPope