DAY THREE

DRIVING TO THE STORE: On one of the earlier posts, an insightful friend commented on the fact that I drove to the grocery store to pick up my food stamp challenge grub. A brilliant tid-bit provided by someone who 'get's it'. I figured I should address the issue of driving to the store, and the grocery store itself.

 People living with assistance from food stamps/SNAP (new name for Food Stamp program) would have probable had to go through greater efforts to get to a less expensive store like Bottom Dollar Foods. In many neighborhoods affordable grocery stores are not a staple. Javier said it best, so I hope he doesn't mind me quoting him:

"One thing to keep in mind is that you have much easier access to food. BDF is right by your house. If it wasn't, you have access to a car. There are many people in North Philly who have neither. Imagine trying to carry your groceries on the bus for a half-hour. It's no wonder why people just resort to what's easiest to obtain."

If I planned better, I would have taken the bus to the grocery store, and had to manage getting my food back home. Thanks Javier for bringing this up. On my cheater list, which I will be posting at the end of the challenge, I will be sure to add driving to the store, and that I was lucky to have a cheaper store near my house.

THE CORNER STORE: Many of youth and families that I have worked with only have access to the corner store, not the grocery store.  That is, easy access. The corner store doesn't carry healthy items, organic, fresh, and isn't cheap. But it is convenient.  These kids have also not been taught how to choose the healthier items at the corner store, so they choose the tasty items: taquitos, chips, soda, huggies, donuts. They are not looking for the trail mix... trail mix is bird food. Or, they don't eat at all. I would  have kids come to practice with no food in their stomach, or with shit food that wouldn't sustain them through practice, and they would inevitably bonk during our workout. You can't ride a bike when you are powered by Doritos. The schools would try to help and provide after school snacks, but they also have tight budgets and would provide... you guessed right, chips. Why? Because chips in bulk are cheap and are 'food.' And we wonder about the obesity epidemic, particularly in our youth... In short, nutritious and inexpensive food is not easily accessible for many. Hell, nutritious food isn't really inexpensive if it is accessible.  Additionally, without knowledge of what is healthy, or why to choose nutritious foods, many go for what is cheap and convenient, this is why fast food store are in business.

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TODAY has been eventful to say the least! The day started with my car breaking down and having to get towed, in that process was a comedy of errors. My car was towed home to NJ, and I went to work with my Manager in the city, dropping off some promotional information for an event. I ended up having to take the train back to NJ, and get picked up from the train station. How does food play in? I emotional eat, so I ate my snack for the day while sitting in the car waiting for AAA, just because I was pissed. Then the remainder of the day was so hectic that I didn't eat my lunch until 4pm. During work, while walking around the city, I was too frozen to be hungry, but I wanted COFFEE! I was so cold and lacking in caffeine  I could have bathed in coffee! During our walk around the city we stopped in a veg friendly spot called HipCityVeg, and I was so sad I couldn't have lunch there, I will have to go back! Is smelled great, and the menu was of course vegetarian friendly and delicious looking. At the end of this day I  need a coffee and a glass of wine. I guess I will have to be okay with a tuna wrap, corn, and a piece of 50% off Christmas chocolate.

Update: Another fabulous friend just shared this with me: Philadelphia's Healthy Corner Store Initiative....
http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/corner.store.campaign.php

I video blogged while FROZEN and waiting 

for my broken down car to be towed, Enjoy!