4 ms·

Bizarre take. Capitalism is so insanely effective that 22% of US teenagers are obese, 25% of all black kids. It may be a disease but it certainly delivers brea

by blfr 4y ago

Bizarre take. Capitalism is so insanely effective that 22% of US teenagers are obese, 25% of all black kids. It may be a disease but it certainly delivers breakfast. And then six more meals, apparently. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

whitemary 4y ago
Both can be true, especially under capitalism.
avgcorrection 4y ago
Good health is more effective than ill-health. Part of the deal with consumer capitalism is that there needs to be consumption. Which means that people have to consume a lot of their means on stuff. Gullet-stuff being one of them. Blacks are of course poorer than whites. Them being more obese is not a sign of overabundance among Blacks.
- blfr 4y ago
  You cannot be obese without overabundance of calories.
  - avgcorrection 4y ago
    Boring and useless point.
    - blfr 4y ago
      I quite like an esoteric theory but it should at least sound plausible. There is no need for a convoluted explanation with power dynamics and economic system denying people access to food when Americans are clearly suffering no such problem.
      - avgcorrection 4y ago
        > denying people access to food when Are you replying to someone else? I haven’t said that someone/some entity is starving people/denying access to food. Try to stay coherent/on track.
  - wizzwizz4 4y ago
    Calories are cheap. > A 500g bag of budget pasta is, as we established, 29p. That’s 5 meals there of 100g of plain pasta, with no butter, no salt, no sauce, and no nutrition, and a whole 147 calories per gruesome meal. https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2022/04/12/its-not-about-the-pasta-kevin-jack-monroe/ https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2022/04/12/its-not-about-the... (By the way, that website has a lot of information about cheap, nutritious food. Jack's currently running it at cost, in addition to all her other work.)
kaitai 4y ago
Obese and malnourished at the same time! A great system indeed! The problems in ensuring access to fresh food in some urban areas (and rural areas too!) is well-documented (ok, food access in rural areas is less well-documented). It's much cheaper to buy sugar water than milk or eggs. You have to know that by now, right? My child receives snacks at a public school through an after school program that serves children of various socioeconomic levels. It's utter bottom-of-the-barrel commodity crap food, though "healthier" than Doritos or Takis. In one of the poorer areas of my big US metropolis, the last grocery store is going to close, leaving thousands with no grocery store accessible by public transit. What I find interesting is that I traveled recently to a rural area that produces at ton of big-ag commodity foods, and the food there was s(*& as well. Couldn't find anything fresh, certainly couldn't find anything local, as all they grow are soybeans and corn, acres and acres. No farmer's market, all the store produce shipped in and poor quality. Folks were not slender there, no surprise when work is riding that tractor for 11 hours and food is all from a box. Someone above commented that the real game is inserting a private company between gov't and citizen to filter out the money and deliver crap. It sure feels that way.

by blfr 4y ago

whitemary 4y ago

Both can be true, especially under capitalism.

avgcorrection 4y ago

Good health is more effective than ill-health. Part of the deal with consumer capitalism is that there needs to be consumption. Which means that people have to consume a lot of their means on stuff. Gullet-stuff being one of them. Blacks are of course poorer than whites. Them being more obese is not a sign of overabundance among Blacks.

blfr 4y ago
You cannot be obese without overabundance of calories.
- avgcorrection 4y ago
  Boring and useless point.
  - blfr 4y ago
    I quite like an esoteric theory but it should at least sound plausible. There is no need for a convoluted explanation with power dynamics and economic system denying people access to food when Americans are clearly suffering no such problem.
    - avgcorrection 4y ago
      > denying people access to food when Are you replying to someone else? I haven’t said that someone/some entity is starving people/denying access to food. Try to stay coherent/on track.
- wizzwizz4 4y ago
  Calories are cheap. > A 500g bag of budget pasta is, as we established, 29p. That’s 5 meals there of 100g of plain pasta, with no butter, no salt, no sauce, and no nutrition, and a whole 147 calories per gruesome meal. https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2022/04/12/its-not-about-the-pasta-kevin-jack-monroe/ https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2022/04/12/its-not-about-the... (By the way, that website has a lot of information about cheap, nutritious food. Jack's currently running it at cost, in addition to all her other work.)

kaitai 4y ago

Obese and malnourished at the same time! A great system indeed! The problems in ensuring access to fresh food in some urban areas (and rural areas too!) is well-documented (ok, food access in rural areas is less well-documented). It's much cheaper to buy sugar water than milk or eggs. You have to know that by now, right? My child receives snacks at a public school through an after school program that serves children of various socioeconomic levels. It's utter bottom-of-the-barrel commodity crap food, though "healthier" than Doritos or Takis. In one of the poorer areas of my big US metropolis, the last grocery store is going to close, leaving thousands with no grocery store accessible by public transit. What I find interesting is that I traveled recently to a rural area that produces at ton of big-ag commodity foods, and the food there was s(*& as well. Couldn't find anything fresh, certainly couldn't find anything local, as all they grow are soybeans and corn, acres and acres. No farmer's market, all the store produce shipped in and poor quality. Folks were not slender there, no surprise when work is riding that tractor for 11 hours and food is all from a box. Someone above commented that the real game is inserting a private company between gov't and citizen to filter out the money and deliver crap. It sure feels that way.