Saw a thing on financing the wall where a GOP guy went on a rant about how we should cut food stamps to build the wall because people on food stamps have high BMIs so obviously they don't need it. :gnashes teeth:
It is quite true that many people on Food Stamps have high BMIs. It is also quite true that most of them are severely undernourished or malnourished. Anyone with the slightest knowledge, which should include a politician in congress, knows that people with less money are not able to afford the kinds of food that are healthy. The food that is cheapest is highly processed, full of fat, sugar and other garbage. If you live in the city then you might not even be able to access fresh stuff. Transporting things can be a problem when buying in bulk if you rely on public transport. Saw something awhile ago that said even in places with Farmers Markets it can cost up to 75% of a person's budget to get the kinds of foods recommended in the 'food pyramid' (or what ever that is called). That doesn't include the $ needed for getting to the place you could buy it.
Read a fascinating piece a bit ago about a college that gives an assignment to Nutrition majors- Goal- figure out plan of how to survive on Food Stamp budget (just food, not rent, etc). First part of semester they work on plan. Second part of semester they have to live it. They can't do it. They describe all sorts of difficulties- the time it takes to find sales, get to multiple places to get the food that is cheapest, traveling to the place all while trying to go to school. Many of them end up buying garbage food because they can afford it, it is accessible. Then they describe the changes of how they felt physically/ mental function. They did worse in school, felt physically more fatigued, etc. Having had patients working 2 jobs, juggling kids, work, etc and trying to get them to eat healthier/feed the kids healthier things I can attest to hearing this sort of thing a lot.
This is the reason for Michelle O. initiative. There was a lot of kickback about kids throwing away food. Well, when you eat crap that has high fat, high triglycerides/added sugar your brain gets conditioned to crave that food and reject the stuff that is healthier. (the human brain is soooo interesting). If you give options that are also crap food to older kids they will chose the crap. Also, if you offer food they have never seen or have little exposure to they will be leary. If you offer those same things to the younger kids they gravitate to the healthy stuff.
/end rant. that dude really burned my a55 to listen to him pontificate about fat people being lazy and not needing assistance. All this to build a wall that most everyone dealing with immigration thinks is a farce (love the town on the border suing to keep it off their border- I think they won)