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Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 4:51 pm
An interesting link I found whilst trawling the USDA's website.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Wow, it really is a Food Desert Locator. I came here expecting to correct a typo.
"Sisters, you know only the north; I have traveled in the south lands. There are churches there, believe me, that cut their children too, as the people of Bolvangar did--not in the same way, but just as horribly. They cut their sexual organs, yes, both boys and girls; they cut them with knives so that they shan't feel. That is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling. So if a war comes, and the Church is on one side of it, we must be on the other, no matter what strange allies we find ourselves bound to."
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 5:45 pm
What am I looking at?
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 6:25 pm
(This post was last modified: February 12, 2012 at 6:25 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
This is a map of the data collected for a report to congress. Here's a link to the summary of the report (it's from 09).
"Increases in obesity and diet-related diseases are major public health problems. These problems
may be worse in some U.S. communities because access to affordable and nutritious foods is
difficult. Previous studies suggest that some areas and households have easier access to fast food
restaurants and convenience stores but limited access to supermarkets. Limited access to nutritious
food and relatively easier access to less nutritious food may be linked to poor diets and, ultimately,
to obesity and diet-related diseases. Congress, in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,
directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a 1-year study to assess the extent
of the problem of limited access, identify characteristics and causes, consider the effects of limited
access on local populations, and outline recommendations to address the problem."
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/AP/...ummary.pdf
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 8:23 pm
(This post was last modified: February 12, 2012 at 8:26 pm by Jackalope.)
Hmmm.... Interesting. According to this data, I live in a "food desert", which I find odd because I have at least 3 supermarkets within 2-3 miles of my house, with fast food under-represented relative to nearby non-"food desert" areas. Granted, I do live near the edge of the zone, and the area within the zone has relatively few markets primarily due to it being residential neighborhoods that were built in the pre-supermarket era. Relatively few restaurants of all types as well for the same reason, though there are plenty in the more recently developed adjacent areas.
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Quote:These problems may be worse in some U.S. communities because access to affordable and nutritious foods is difficult.
And when Michelle Obama suggests they eat properly and get some exercise they bitch and moan about government "interference" when what they really mean is they don't need advice from some nigger.
To all of our Brit friends I am afraid that you are going to have to learn that a lot of Americans are simply full of shit.
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 12, 2012 at 9:49 pm
I am to understand that this report got an airing here in Australia.
Currently it is being used to support the extended hours/ late night trading of our supermarkets here in Western Australia. On weekdays and weekends you can get any fast food you wish (24 hour door to door service) but our suppermarkets close all day Sundays and only open for limited hours on Saturdays, with daily trading from 8:30 to 18:00 and Thursday night trading till 21:00. It really is ridiculous what the oposition to extended trading is here.
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 13, 2012 at 12:42 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2012 at 12:43 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(February 12, 2012 at 8:23 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Hmmm.... Interesting. According to this data, I live in a "food desert", which I find odd because I have at least 3 supermarkets within 2-3 miles of my house, with fast food under-represented relative to nearby non-"food desert" areas. Granted, I do live near the edge of the zone, and the area within the zone has relatively few markets primarily due to it being residential neighborhoods that were built in the pre-supermarket era. Relatively few restaurants of all types as well for the same reason, though there are plenty in the more recently developed adjacent areas.
Read further into the pdf and you'll see why.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 13, 2012 at 2:47 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2012 at 3:09 am by Jackalope.)
Pffft... you want me to READ something? I suppose I'll have to.
Presumably, my region is a "food desert" due to the prevalence of low-income residence without access to transportation coupled with the fact that while we have several supermarkets within a couple of miles, there are none within one mile (the closest is 1.2 miles away), and public transit in the immediate area sucks. OK, I get that.
Here's what I don't get. The location of fast food / convenience stores is no less convenient - in the majority of cases, they're clustered close together. As an anecdote, the closest supermarket to my house is right across the street from the closest convenience store, and it's marginally closer than any fast food place - and this is true for almost anyone living in most of the region. We actually have relatively few convenience stores and fast food places nearby compared to the number of supermarkets - and as I said, they are located very close to one another.
As another anecdote, at the convenience store closest to my house, I have often seen people shopping for groceries at the c-store and paying with food stamps. This can't be a result of lack of access to a supermarket - there's one across the damn street. Now, other people's shopping decisions aren't any of my business, but it does make no economic sense to me.
I'm not claiming that this report is flawed or anything of the sort. I just find it curious based on what I know about the area I live in - yep, it's very inconvenient for those without cars, but the better options are no more so than less economic ones.
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RE: Food Desert Locator
February 13, 2012 at 9:20 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2012 at 9:25 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Absolutely, the places people buy their food mystify me as well (and what they buy when they get there, for that matter). I've definitely seen the convenience store shoppers but according to the data referenced here-
Quote:Findings also show
that food purchases at convenience stores make up a small portion of total food expenditures (2
to 3 percent) for low-income consumers
It seems alot higher where I grew up too, and this may have to do with the limitations in basing a conclusion on census data (but that is the data that we have, have to use something). Or maybe my estimation of just how many people shop at convenience stores isn't representative of how many people actually do. I supposes that's what makes this whole thing so interesting to me. We have food literally falling off of the shelves (a large amount of which probably shouldn't be called "food") and yet an area can be called a "food desert", and statistics seem to imply a relationship between poverty, transportation, access, and geography. If these guys have their heads on straight it would be unacceptable to me. This is the US right? Not some second stringer shithole of a country that can't address such a simple issue.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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