Anonymous wrote:

Bittman also talks about needing to have access to a grocery store, not a dusty bodega. Much less the skill to cook. But you don't address that in your post.

No, I posted the link so you and everyone else could read the entire article. Sounds like you did, nice job.

And the "food desert" thing is such horseshit in many areas where kids/adults are fat. I used to buy into that plea "But we have only 7-11 / bodega / Sheetz convenience store." That is most certainly true in some cases, I guess. But not in densely urban areas with excellent public transportation.

If you can take a bus to pick up your gov't check at the DHS office, and take the bus again to hang out in front of the Verizon center, then you can take that bus to a Harris Teeter a couple of times a week.

Bittman also talks about needing to have access to a grocery store, not a dusty bodega. Much less the skill to cook. But you don't address that in your post.

Anonymous wrote:OP, It is because of POVERTY. SOMEHOW when you are POOR you get too much food, if they had MORE money, they would be able to shop at Whole Foods and buy LESS food and eat less. Also, they would magically not choose to buy the potato chips at WF, just the Gala apples.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is from CA, she visited DC and saw fat kids.

As a tourist, she went online and posted on DC urban mom even though she is actually from CA.

Yeah right...there is no troll here.

lol

My guess is that people claiming OP is a troll are probably in the obese category - or close to it.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, It is because of POVERTY. SOMEHOW when you are POOR you get too much food, if they had MORE money, they would be able to shop at Whole Foods and buy LESS food and eat less. Also, they would magically not choose to buy the potato chips at WF, just the Gala apples.

Or is it ??????????

Article in today's NYTimes makes the opposite case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?_r=1

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: September 24, 2011

THE “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli ...” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”

This is just plain wrong. In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)

In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home. You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people.

Anonymous wrote:I remember I left the country for the first time in 2001 and went to the UK. I remember being surprised that most everyone I saw was so slim! It really put into perspective for me that what I considered normal looking people in the USA were much heavier than in the UK.

Anonymous wrote:OP, It is because of POVERTY. SOMEHOW when you are POOR you get too much food, if they had MORE money, they would be able to shop at Whole Foods and buy LESS food and eat less. Also, they would magically not choose to buy the potato chips at WF, just the Gala apples.

Anonymous wrote:OP is from CA, she visited DC and saw fat kids.

As a tourist, she went online and posted on DC urban mom even though she is actually from CA.

Yeah right...there is no troll here.

lol

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you totally ignorant or just trolling? Childhood obesity is a major problem everywhere. "PE Curriculum" ? Please. As if that makes a difference. I teach Pre-K and when I see parents bringing their kids to school in the morning with bags of Cheetos and Cokes, it makes me want to scream. I'm sure they are plenty of fat children in California too.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, It is because of POVERTY. SOMEHOW when you are POOR you get too much food, if they had MORE money, they would be able to shop at Whole Foods and buy LESS food and eat less. Also, they would magically not choose to buy the potato chips at WF, just the Gala apples.

Or is it ??????????

Article in today's NYTimes makes the opposite case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?_r=1

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: September 24, 2011

THE “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli ...” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”

This is just plain wrong. In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)

In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home. You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people.