Heritage Foundation on Hunger...Poor people aren't hungry; they're fat.

[ProSense]

Heritage Foundation on Hunger: Let Them Eat Broccoli

Washington Dispatch: Poor people aren't hungry; they're fat.

By James Ridgeway

December 3, 2007

While most Americans were planning for the annual ritual of overconsumption known as Thanksgiving, the good folks at the Heritage Foundation, America’s leading architects of conservative thought for at least three decades, were doing their part to add to the holiday cheer. According to a November 13 Heritage article, well-off revelers could stuff their faces unhampered by guilt about the less fortunate, because there are no longer any hungry people in the United States.

You have to hand it to Heritage for always being first out of the gate to exploit the latest event or finding to advance its aims—this is the same think tank that issued a comprehensive strategy, two weeks after Katrina hit shore, for using the hurricane as an excuse to slash federal social programs. This time, its thinkers found inspiration in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual report on Household Food Security in the United States, which is as close as the federal government comes to providing statistics on hunger among the nation’s poor. The latest report states that 11 percent of Americans were "food insecure" for some part of 2006, and 4 percent—11.1 million people—experienced "very low food security."

These Orwellian euphemisms are a triumph for the conservative agenda; the USDA altered its terminology last year on the recommendations of an "expert panel" convened back in 2003. "Very low food security," for example, used to be "food insecurity with hunger." The experts asked the department to eliminate "hunger," which, they argued, "should refer to a potential consequence of food insecurity that, because of prolonged, involuntary lack of food, results in discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain that goes beyond the usual uneasy sensation." To some, that might better describe starvation, but the panel's reasoning wouldn't be a stretch for the Bush administration, which claims "torture" must entail pain "equivalent in intensity" to the pain of "serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."

But the Heritage folks are looking beyond semantic tweaks: Far from having too little to eat, they argue, poor people are eating too much. By the time the USDA report went public, Heritage had readied its own salvo, titled "Hunger Hysteria: Examining Food Security and Obesity in America." In recent years, the U.S. media and public have become increasingly obsessed with the "obesity epidemic." And what better way to attack the idea of deprivation among the poor than to note that they are getting fatter? Rightly or not, people still associate obesity with the sins of gluttony and sloth, which jibes nicely with the concept that welfare recipients are lazy people who would rather feed at the public trough than get an honest job.

"Hunger Hysteria" is the work of Robert Rector, Heritage's senior domestic-policy man and a main proponent of welfare "reform." He argues that while the USDA's numbers might sound "ominous" on the surface, "the government's own data show that the overwhelming majority of food insecure adults are, like most adult Americans, overweight or obese." While "they may have brief episodes of reduced food intake, most adults in food insecure households actually consume too much, not too little food."

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[Lex]

1. In the same way Jerry Falwell was fat.

nt

[flashl]

2. K&R n/t

[Tempest]

3. Those Heritage folks sure are ignorant

"Food insecurity" refers to episodes where people have had to go without meals.

I'd like to see Heritage explain how you can get fat by skipping meals.

[frankenforpres]

8. you can

heritage is scum, but i believe that poor are more likely to be fat. skipping meals can lower metabolism, then when you eat, you go for the cheapest (which is often unhealthy) food available


so the working poor might not be starving, but the arent eating healthy. that should be the big concern, imo

food prices are nuts, it costs 2 bucks for a pomegranate. you can get two double cheeseburgers for that. if you were poor, what would you go for?

[Tempest]

24. Watch out when you make generalizations

Otherwise you'll be challenged to prove it.

but i believe that poor are more likely to be fat

Your belief is unfounded. My ex-girlfriend works for the Department of Agriculture in the food program and their internal studies show your statement to be wholly without merit.

[yardwork]

30. You're both correct. Some people are overweight but undernourished.

Overweight caused by eating junk food - which is often cheaper and more readily available than healthy food - is a big health problem in the Western world. At the same time, many people are starving or underweight because of undernourishment.

The Heritage Foundation, naturally, has it all wrong. Obesity is never a sign that all is well. Obesity is a sign of a problem.

In many poor sections of cities and rural areas there is little availability of healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables. Poor people without transportation will live off what they can buy at the local convenience store. High fat, high sugar, high salt - no fresh food.

The media advertising barrage also creates a barrier to choosing healthy food.

The Heritage Foundation and all those right-wingers should go soak their heads, imo. They make me so mad with their selfish greedy pronouncements, and they never know what they're talking about.

[DCKit]

43. So diplomatic and so spot-on correct.

Recent posts about high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient in nearly every food product on the market also apply to the current epidemic of obesity. Several respondents voiced concerns with the empty calories and the seemingly addictive nature of HFCS based on their personal experience.

[yardwork]

46. There's something wrong with HFCS - it really does appear to be poison.

[JBoy]

40. In Canada there is a link between income level and obesity

From Statistics Canada: http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/82-618-MIE/82-618-MIE2005003.htm#4

"Overweight Canadians in high-income households were less likely to become obese than were those in the lowest income category. Among overweight men, the risk of becoming obese was about 40% less for those in the two highest household income quintiles than for those in the lowest quintile. Overweight women in the three highest income quintiles also had a significant reduction in the risk of obesity, again around 40%, compared to women in the lowest quintile.

The relationship between household income and obesity may result from the cost of food, as foods high in fat and sugar are often cheaper. Low-income families must balance grocery expenditures with those on other necessities such as housing and clothing. As well, food costs have been shown to be higher in low-income neighborhoods, and travelling to shop in areas where prices are lower may not be feasible."

[knitter4democracy]

4. *sigh* Let's not even look at what foods they eat, either.

Fast food, empty carbs, high fructose corn syrup, whatever's cheap at the corner store, cheap freezer meals full of all kinds of chemicals and hidden sugars. Gee, I wonder why some of the poor are overweight. :eyes:

Then again, the poor and hungry I've known have all been thin. Dangerously thin. So, maybe these conservatives could get off their asses and actually hit the soup kitchens and food banks and talk with people and see what they're eating and see how their health is. I guess that's just too darn much compassion for these jerks.

[frankenforpres]

11. agree, depends on what they mean by poor

really poor arent eating. working poor often have bad diet because it is cheaper

[knitter4democracy]

28. Did they define it in the paper?

Homeless and destitute aren't eating, you're right. What they do eat is full of empty calories.

The working poor are screwed. Gas costs are squeezing them horribly, and the higher food costs are getting ridiculous. Milk costs more than gas some days (the price fluctuates for some reason), so that leaves water for many.

[lvx35]

13. That's exactly what it is, thanks.

Try to get your vegetable nutrients with little money and no kitchen...They will come from eating trans fat filled crap from the dollar store and fast food restaraunts. We've gotten to a point where eating isn't the luxury, but eating food that's actually good for you is. There's no reason for that and its got to change.

[knitter4democracy]

27. You've nailed it--eating well is a luxury.

Food costs keep going up, I run into more and more at the local bakery outlet, trying to afford bread (which usually still has HFCS in it and such) and getting food at Big Lots. They go for what they can afford, and that is getting to be worth less and less, nutrition-wise.

[eppur_se_muova]

45. You got it. Starch is cheapest, then sugar, then fat ... THEN protein.

It is possible to be poor, fat, AND extremely malnourished.

[fed-up]

5. I'm 5'4" and 112 pounds-I am most definitly NOT FAT....nt

[TalkingDog]

47. Yeah, at 5'1 size 5, people can't believe I weigh 128.

Just a little incandescent brick of red-dirt intensity.



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[izzie]

6. Sort of sad. Can't be to thin or to empty headed.

--

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. That new freakin' phrase they made up, "Food insecurity" (HUNGER) makes my blood boil. NEVER use

that phrase when referring to the HUNGRY in this country. Food insecurity, my ass. How about STARVATION? How about not knowing where your next meal will come from? How would those people like it if it was THEIR baby going to bed HUNGRY???:grr: I hate those fuckers with a passion....ALL of them. SCREW REPUKES.

[bread_and_roses]

38. I'm with you. And screw welfare deform, and screw the so-called "Liberals"

who buy into this unadulterated propaganda and dis-information.

[Hydra]

9. Down is up, and up is down

no surprise these people are serving bull**** to sooth the have too-muchers, but to my great surprise, I hear similar things from normal people-

"There are no hungry people in America! This is the 'land of opportunity!' ye blasphemer"

[EFerrari]

10. These people just get more creepy every day.

"That person isn't dead, he's just not trying."

[hootinholler]

16. 'Es pinin for the fiords!

:evilgrin:

-Hoot

[opihimoimoi]

12. Very clever how the Pubs frame their shit,,, blame the victims..do they have FAT TENTS too?

Many of the hungry are also Homeless....

these are the same dudes who gave us Bush,..,

They cannot be trusted...ever....

[JerseygirlCT]

14. Try living on fast food (it's not nutritious, but it's cheap)

and see if you fit into a size 4...

This is just unconscionable. But what else should be expected from the Heritage Fdn.?

[tridim]

20. You know, fast food used to be cheap..

But it hasn't been since the late 90's. A Big Mac extra value meal was $2.99 in 1999, now it's over $5.00 at the same McD's.

I think the problem lies more in the Mac & Cheese arena. Empty carbs will make anyone fat.

[JerseygirlCT]

31. Yeah those boxes of the orange stuff. Little to no nutrition, but

plenty of calories.

[Skittles]

44. I live on empty carbs

carbs do not make you fat - EATING TOO MUCH makes you fat

[eShirl]

23. I think if you can live on fast food, you're not poor.

Maybe poor in health...

[knitter4democracy]

29. It's an issue of availability.

If you survive on the crappy bus routes in our area, getting to and from places like Aldi, the bakery outlet, Big Lots, and dollar stores for cheap food is an all-day job. And you can only carry so much.

On the way home, though, there's often a fast food place. If you live where there's no kitchen (like an old hotel that charges weekly rates), how are you supposed to cook anyway? Read Nickel and Dimed--it's a real eye-opener on how people really live.

[sandnsea]

35. Thank you

Ya know, for a doctor's wife, you're a pretty savvy lady. :) Your community is blessed to have you, I'm sure.

[knitter4democracy]

36. Nope. Just been through hard times, seen more.

When we were first married, and Hubby was in med school, I taught and made a whole 18 grand a year. I always tell him that God should strike us dead if we ever forget how hard it was those three years of barely making it.

I also did mission trips to all sorts of third-world places and third-world-like places in college. I listened a lot, and then helping out in a men's homeless shelter for a week and eating their meals with them taught me even more.

If I could get my health better, I would do more than teach knitting at the adult day care facility in town. :)

[NMMNG]

15. They're not hungry. Why, compared to the people in Ethiopia,

they're positively swimming in food. They should stop b*tching. :sarcasm:



I detest the Heritage Foundation. :puke:

[stillcool]

17. pimping my own thread...

but I think it's relevant...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2396267

[Quantess]

18. One can be overweight AND malnourished.

This can be accomplished by eating starchy, greasy food with low nutritional value.

For example, stale toast with pancake syrup for breakfast, french fries, soda, and a hostess "fruit" pie for lunch, and cheap hot dogs with macaronis for dinner.
A diet like that might give you scurvy and rickets, as well as obesity and malnutrition!

[flashl]

37. You hit it on the head. Rickets are here again.

Rickets A Threat Again In Children, Doctors Say

[ryanus]

19. same thing happened to peasants in europe

They were fat because of malnourishment. They had enough food volume, but not enough of all the vitamins and minerals so they'd eat a lot, trying to get everything they needed and got plenty of calories, but were not healthy.

I think we have a food quality problem, not a food quantity problem.

[eShirl]

22. Exactly! Thank you.

[flashl]

21. Fat workers must be eating at their McD manufacturing jobs. n/t

[flvegan]

25. It's called nutrition (or lack there of), stupid.

Also, how much exercise might one get or be motivated to get if they're working two jobs just to make ends meet?

Morons.

[rurallib]

26. Maybe the poor ought to feed the rich on Thanksgiving and Xmas?

I mean look at that Dana Perino. She could use some meat on her banes. And what about Phyllis Schlafly? She's as scrawny as a starving hen.
Will the right not be happy until the poor in this country look like the Jews at Dachau before they were gassed? Must they also be covered with lice and fleas? Would that be enough?

[Danger Mouse]

32. These idiots make me want to puke.

How can people be that disgustingly callous towards their fellow human beings? Are they completely lacking in any form of decency? Do they have a shadow? Do they have a reflection in the mirror?

[Rex]

33. So now we see that Glenn Beck has something in common

with the Horribly Faithless. Amazing. An ass-clown, Uncle Slappy, Beck, Blitzer, Spanky and Pat. All chiding the homeless and downtrodden around Christmas time.

Yup, that makes sense. The words Compassionate Conservative are and always will be a joke. Mean-spirited shitheads that gloat at the misfortune of others.

Ya, Fuck Them and all That. Two fingers.

Food for the masses.

[Dark]

34. prolonged, involuntary lack of food, results in discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain

I thought that was called "starving"?

[flashl]

39. Not. Thanks for playing. According to the USDA in 2006 ...

Mark Nord, the lead author of the report {USDA Report}, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey." Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, "We don't have a measure of that condition."

And, then they gave us this pretty picture chart:


So, it we can not "define" hunger, we will never reach a conclusion on starvation.
:sarcasm:

[JBoy]

41. OK, check out Ed Feulner, President of the Heritage Foundation

(on the right):




Somebody get this fat fuck a pay raise! Please, think of his health.

[Cha]

42. heritage people aren't

smart..they're stupid.