Comment on Wealth inequality will destroy America.
BooBees@fedinsfw.app 17 hours agoThere is in fact a problem with the lower income families having food deserts, having not enough money for fresh produce, and having to rely on mostly hyper processed foods which fuck with your insulin levels, have tons of sugar, fats and salts to make them tasty, and that leads to irregular fat storage even when you’re taking a normal or sub normal level of calories. It’s one of the reasons the “fat American” body type is showing up in other nations, particularly in Europe, where they’re also becoming more reliant on ultra processed foods. Being poor is more expensive in many ways, and one is that you can’t afford a good diet and it makes you sicker faster while you lack the healthcare to manage it or find education on the matter via a primary care provider.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 15 hours ago
There has to be more to it than that. I was watching something about an area near me being one of the fattest in the country. Its moderately deprived which I am sure is a contributing factor, but then less than 100 miles away another town which is far more deprived is around 10% lower for obesity.
They interviewed people too, asking them where they get food from. So many said the same answer, a shop which is entirely stocked with processed crap. Yes, if you go shopping there you are coming home with crap. But next door there were 2 other shops which sell fresh vegetables and for less than the ultra processed crap. It takes less than 10 seconds to walk between the doors of each shop.
Its not a food desert, fresh food is available here and cheaper than processed food. I spend less on food for the week than many people do on a single takeaway, of which they have several a week.
daychilde@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
When you’re working two jobs to survive, you do not have time to cook from scratch.
When education fails to educate, you do not have knowledge how to cook, nor understanding of the reason why one might want to.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 14 hours ago
UK minimum wage is pretty good, if you are working 2 jobs you should have quite a lot of money.
gastroglizzy@piefed.social 14 hours ago
The other component is time. When someone works multiple jobs, the thought of going home and spending an hour cooking and half an hour cleaning up just to eat in ten minutes is very unappealing when there’s so much else to be done. Simply having the food available for cheap doesn’t do any good when you don’t have time to cook it and don’t want salad.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 14 hours ago
I was going to mention that although it was getting long already. This is in the UK with one of the best minimum wages on the planet. If you work so much that you lack time, you will have quite a lot of money. Maybe not rich, but plenty to be comfortable.
BooBees@fedinsfw.app 14 hours ago
Microbiome differences will absolutely account for that. I’d be testing for soil and water issue differences and checking if one has more time spent in third spaces that help foster more healthy and diverse microbiomes. Just having more park time would do it, but absolutely having more gardening in one vs the other would do that, even with the exact same diet
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 14 hours ago
Well I know the water here has as much agricultural fertiliser in it as they are legally allowed to leave in.