'No Food Stamps for Sodas'

at 4:31 PM

Before I start writing about the great article and editorial published today in the New York Times, I want to dispel two myths I have talked about before, but it's always good to review.  Don't you think?

Myth #1. I'm going to the gym to burn off the brownies I had last night.- It doesn't not work this way.  Our bodies don't just burn the food that was consumed days or hours ago.  Nutrition and exercise are long term processes that require patience, consistency, and delayed gratification.

Myth #2. This one is one of my favorites: Muscle burns more calories than fat.  The latest peer-reviewed research has revealed once and for all that muscle burns around 20 more calories than fat per day.  Now I don't know about you but that number does not make me want to jump up and reach for more food.

OK, now to the article that was published today.  First here are some facts.  Medical researchers have associated consumption of sugar-sweetened beveraes with weight gan and development of diabetes.  And in the past 30 years, the consumption of sugary beverges in the U.S. has more than doubled, which is parallel with the rise in obesity.  In New York City, almost 60 pecent of adults and 40 percent of children are obese.  These patterns are especially obvious in low-income neighborhoods.

New York City and State have asked he USDA (Department of Agriculture) which administers the food stamp program to bar the use of food stamps to buy sugary beverages.  For obvious reasons the policy would not apply to milk and milk substitute (no, Kool Aid does not count as a milk substitute) or fruit juices.  Then the effects of this pilot program is going to be evaluated and studied. 

Here is the catch though... I am certain that people would find a way to circumvent this policy.  They would buy their soda much like they buy their beer and cigarretes.  Or they may sell their food stamps to buy items that they want.  Like I have said before, we must change the environment, educate people and make healthy foods and beverages far more affordable and accessible.  And do we really think we are going to change people's behavior with a forced policy?  Just think about how much making the nutirional informaion of fast food items in restaurants has changed eating behavior... not much.  Most people will notice that the burger they are about to order is 700 calories.  They will go ahead and order it anyway.

We need to work on the following things for our town: we need more health food stores, fewer fast food restaurants, and more bicycle and pedestrian path ways.  In the mean time, let's all work on having a vegetable garden in our back yards.