Today has been a very interesting day. Meeting Catherine Gillis has been a wonderful experience. I was expecting a long speech about food and the right way to eat, but to my surprise, she talked to us about the study she conducted with Dr. Kelly Moore on Social Class and Cultural Meanings of Eating. When I was listening to her speak about this study, I was shocked to see how people actually take the time trying to figure out what families eat in certain communities.
Knowing that people care about the health of others is something amazing. I was curious by the overall idea behind "food deserts" and "food swamps" . Food deserts simply means the lack of grocery stores around a community of low income, while food swamps have plenty of fast food restaurants all over communities, of low income. When discussing this issue about how much this affects families and their eating habits I became aware of reality.
Many low income communities do not have access to grocery stores that are healthy for them to buy cheap, affordable food. I think this is one of the main reasons why the African American community does not live as long as the middle-class whites. African American communities suffer from diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and many other unhealthy conditions that target them into being a unhealthy community.
People who look down at all of these communities blame the people, but it is not just about blaming people to eat healthy. I mean it is something dangerous when you are living an unhealthy life, but if they are poor, how will they obtain the money needed in order to buy healthy, fresh vegetables? These problems make the community suffer because of the lack of grocery stores and because of the lack of money. I believe people have been getting used t0 living in poor and unhealthy conditions because they have no other option; when there is no money to provide the healthiest foods for their families then we have unhealthy people.
Going back to Catherine's study, I found it extremely interesting to see how Michael Pollan brought reality into the table by saying that "Americans are eating fast, processed food and they are not eating together as families anymore". I believe this is true becasue many families just buy food outside, some do not even eat at home, and others are too lazy to cook after a long day at work. I think that time has become a major concern. Mostly everyone is behind the clock rushing to work, worrying about traffic, preparing for the next meeting they will be helding and other stressful reasons that leave people exhausted. The las thing they want to do is think about getting home to cook.
Throughout this study, we see how low income families rely on the government either for food stamps or for WIC Food. The study was based on the interview of 27 people who were all approached at the WIC Food center in Western Chicago, Illinois. These people ranged from the ages of 18-50 years old. All of them had an income below 185 %. 24 of the people were African Americans and only 3 Latinas, there were only 4 men and 23 women who are just few individuals that make up the "Food World".
Overall, this study was done to show how middle class whites waste a ridiculous amount of money in a "healthy meal" while low income people are trying to do anything in order to make a few dollars to bring food to the table. Out of the 27 people, 6 of them go to fast food restaurants such as McDonald's because they love the double cheeseburgers. Many eat at home because of the quality time they spend together with their family members, while some just rely on restaurants for "take out".
The saddest part about this study is to find that most people do not view it as a preventative health activity. The only problem they see is the lack of grocery stores in the area which causes them to buy unhealthy foods. Even though some people do have diabetes and other diseases, they do not change their diets unless diagnosed with a disease or seeing other family members sick.
Nowadays we see nutrition information and diets changing. Before in the 1950s we would have parents telling their children to eat as much as possibly in order to be healthy, and now we see children being overweight. It all depends in how society manifests such topic. I believe that poverty is the main reason why people suffer from such diseases in these communities because of the lack of grocery stores as well as the lack of information. We do not want our children being overweight, we do not want certain communities suffering more than others, we all want healthy people in a healthy world. Overall, I hope change can come before death rate increases due to these problems.
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It is my last blog! The class has come to an end. I am happy to have been part of such a great class. I would like to thank Joel and Liz for doing an amazing job teachign us all about Chicago. I really enjoyed every trip and al lthe tours around the city. I will never forget summer 2010. It was an amazing experience also getting to know Jill and Annie two great people. ( I already knew Jose).
Well over all, thank you so much Liz and Joel for it all, it has been such a great pleasure meeting you guys!
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