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HEPLER —
Watching my own waistline is only part of the solution to the rising cost of government because the writer misses the fact in the data. The obesity rates quoted without attribution plainly show that obesity is rampant in those states with the highest levels of poverty. There is a high correlation between poverty and obesity.
Those who are poor do not have the money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and protein sources like meat and fish. They look for something that’s cheap, fills them up and makes them feel good. Cereals loaded with sugar and miniscule amounts of grain processed so it’s nearly useless to the human body are cheap, they fill you up, and make you feel good. Sugar-loaded drinks are cheap, they fill you up, and they make you feel good. Shelves loaded with cheap white bread, jelly, and peanut butter enriched with sugar share the same traits and they’re all loaded with lots of calories.
Nearly 50 years ago, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson developed programs to help folks get out of poverty through education, job training and financial assistance. The Republicans made it their agenda to gut those programs and do away with them. They’ve been successful by appealing to the self-centeredness and selfishness of their constituents. Their agenda continues today as they gut programs to help the poor so the rich can pay no taxes
Helping folks get out of poverty ought to be our priority. It’s not. We could change that in November.
W. W. O’Bryan
Hepler
Watching my own waistline is only part of the solution to the rising cost of government because the writer misses the fact in the data. The obesity rates quoted without attribution plainly show that obesity is rampant in those states with the highest levels of poverty. There is a high correlation between poverty and obesity.
Those who are poor do not have the money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and protein sources like meat and fish. They look for something that’s cheap, fills them up and makes them feel good. Cereals loaded with sugar and miniscule amounts of grain processed so it’s nearly useless to the human body are cheap, they fill you up, and make you feel good. Sugar-loaded drinks are cheap, they fill you up, and they make you feel good. Shelves loaded with cheap white bread, jelly, and peanut butter enriched with sugar share the same traits and they’re all loaded with lots of calories.
Nearly 50 years ago, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson developed programs to help folks get out of poverty through education, job training and financial assistance. The Republicans made it their agenda to gut those programs and do away with them. They’ve been successful by appealing to the self-centeredness and selfishness of their constituents. Their agenda continues today as they gut programs to help the poor so the rich can pay no taxes
Helping folks get out of poverty ought to be our priority. It’s not. We could change that in November.
W. W. O’Bryan
Hepler
