Junk Food only for Farm Communities

[Guest guest]

Junk Food County

Why many rural Americans can't get nutritious

foods. The unhealthy truth about country living.

By Springen

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Fannie , 46, lives six miles from the

nearest grocery store in rural Orangeburg County,

S.C. She doesn't own a car, so she pushes a cart

along the side of the highway. (There are no

sidewalks.) It's difficult, since she weighs 240

pounds and suffers from asthma and type 2

diabetes. That's why she usually goes only once a

month. About once a week she supplements her

grocery-store purchases with pricier, less

healthy food from the convenience store, just a

mile and a half away. At both places she forgoes

fruits and leafy greens. " They're too expensive, "

she says. Skim milk is often unavailable. " I get

the whole milk, or I'll get a little can of

Carnation evaporated, " she says. Though she often

worries about go°©ing hungry, she is obese. " I'm

stressed. That's why I'm eating a lot, " she says.

" And I've got to eat what I have. "

This is the real world of eating and nutrition in

the rural United States. Forget plucking an apple

from a tree, or an egg from under a chicken. " The

stereotype is everyone in rural America lives on

a farm, which is far from the truth, " says Jim

Weill, president of the nonprofit Food Research

and Action Center (FRAC). New research from the

University of South Carolina's Arnold School of

Public Health shows just how unhealthy the

country life can be. The study, which examined

food-shopping options in Orangeburg County (1,106

square miles, population 91,500), found a dearth

of supermarkets and grocery stores. Of the 77

stores that sold food in Orangeburg County in

2004, when the study was done, 57—nearly 75

percent—were convenience stores. Grocery stores,

which stock far more fruits and vegetables than

convenience stores, are often too far away, says

University of South Carolina epidemiologist

Liese, lead author of the study, which

appeared in last month's Journal of the American

Dietetic Association. " Oftentimes a nutritionist

will just say, 'Buy more fruits and vegetables,'

when, in fact, the buying part is not simple. "

Like other rural areas (and some inner-city

ones), Orange County is an isolated " food

desert. " " You are pretty much at the mercy of

what's in your neighborhood, " says Adam

Drewnowski, director of the center for obesity

research at the University of Washington.

Although only 28 percent of all the stores in

Orangeburg County carried any of the fruits and

vegetables—apples, cucumbers, oranges,

tomatoes—that were part of the survey, Liese and

her colleagues found plenty of healthy foods in

the county's 20 supermarkets and grocery stores.

The situation in the convenience stores was

decidedly grimmer. Only 4 percent of them carried

high-fiber bread, and only 2 percent carried

low-fat or skim milk.

Poverty poses a big barrier to good nutrition in

rural areas. " Eating healthier is more

expensive, " says Jodi Bates, who operates the

Compassion in Action food bank in Orangeburg

County, where the median household income is just

$30,000 and 22 percent of the residents fall

below the poverty line. Last year food stamps

went to 10.3 percent of rural Americans, versus

7.3 percent of urban ones, and 31 percent of

rural grade-schoolers got a free or reduced

lunch, compared to 25 percent of urban

grade-schoolers.

Rural Americans are at increased risk of what the

government calls " low food security, " better

understood as fear of going hungry. According to

new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,

more than 35.5 million Americans (not including

the nation's 750,000 or so homeless people) fell

into this category last year. The highest food

insecurity rates were in states with large rural

populations: Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and

South Carolina. Ironically, people with low food

security are often hungry—and fat. The reason:

they binge on cheap, high-calorie foods that fill

them up. " People don't think of people who are

obese as struggling with hunger, when of course

many of them are, " says Weill of FRAC. " Poverty

and food insecurity and obesity are often linked

not because poor people are getting too much food

from programs but because they're not getting

enough resources to obtain a healthy diet. " And

according to a study published this month in the

Journal of the American Dietetic Association by

the University of Washington, the cost of fresh

fruits and vegetables is increasing faster than

the cost of other foods.

Nutritionists and anti-hunger activists know what

rural Americans should eat. In an ideal world,

says Weill, more people would take advantage of

nutrition and financial education programs, like

those offered by the USDA, that teach consumers

how to make a food budget and use recipes. The

2007 Farm Bill would in°©crease food stamp access

and benefits and allocate an additional $2.75

billion over 10 years to buy fruits and

vegetables for the USDA's nutrition assistance

programs, including the national school lunch and

breakfast programs. (The USDA now runs a pilot

program that gives kids in 25 schools in eight

states fresh fruit during the day.) Jan Probst,

director of the South Carolina Rural Health

Research Center, has hopes that these new

measures could help prevent what may be an

oncoming health catastrophe in rural America: " If

you start now, these people won't be having heart

attacks at 40. "

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/76929

© 2007 Newsweek.com

[Guest guest]

Yup. Last time back home in N. Dakota I was hard-pressed to even find an

organic up of coffee, much less a carrot...

All the major FF chains present though! McD's, TB, & ct...problem there is the

ease of sliding down some 2 for a buck hot dogs at the local gas mart vs. the

relative difficulty in FINDING wholesome ANYTHING combined with the cost

differential. While many locals there grow their own produce it is actually of

least concern that it is healthier; to them it is cheaper than buying, period.

And when the bounty is out so too is the good produce. They then go without or

buy whatever is on sale, no questions asked. Many of my friends who are not

well connected in rural MN suffer the same dearth of access to whole foods. My

SO's family always has enough because they really dedicate themselves that way

otherwise they would be stuck too...

The 'heartland' turning into the 'heart-diseaseland?'

OTOH, 80+% up there at least procure their own animals by hunting or raising

them and many have access to fresh eggs; so the produce is the real kicker (at

least in my home turf)...

Junk Food only for Farm Communities

Junk Food County

Why many rural Americans can't get nutritious

foods. The unhealthy truth about country living.

By Springen

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Fannie , 46, lives six miles from the

nearest grocery store in rural Orangeburg County,

S.C. She doesn't own a car, so she pushes a cart

along the side of the highway. (There are no

sidewalks.) It's difficult, since she weighs 240

pounds and suffers from asthma and type 2

diabetes. That's why she usually goes only once a

month. About once a week she supplements her

grocery-store purchases with pricier, less

healthy food from the convenience store, just a

mile and a half away. At both places she forgoes

fruits and leafy greens. " They're too expensive, "

she says. Skim milk is often unavailable. " I get

the whole milk, or I'll get a little can of

Carnation evaporated, " she says. Though she often

worries about go°©ing hungry, she is obese. " I'm

stressed. That's why I'm eating a lot, " she says.

" And I've got to eat what I have. "

This is the real world of eating and nutrition in

the rural United States. Forget plucking an apple

from a tree, or an egg from under a chicken. " The

stereotype is everyone in rural America lives on

a farm, which is far from the truth, " says Jim

Weill, president of the nonprofit Food Research

and Action Center (FRAC). New research from the

University of South Carolina's Arnold School of

Public Health shows just how unhealthy the

country life can be. The study, which examined

food-shopping options in Orangeburg County (1,106

square miles, population 91,500), found a dearth

of supermarkets and grocery stores. Of the 77

stores that sold food in Orangeburg County in

2004, when the study was done, 57-nearly 75

percent-were convenience stores. Grocery stores,

which stock far more fruits and vegetables than

convenience stores, are often too far away, says

University of South Carolina epidemiologist

Liese, lead author of the study, which

appeared in last month's Journal of the American

Dietetic Association. " Oftentimes a nutritionist

will just say, 'Buy more fruits and vegetables,'

when, in fact, the buying part is not simple. "

Like other rural areas (and some inner-city

ones), Orange County is an isolated " food

desert. " " You are pretty much at the mercy of

what's in your neighborhood, " says Adam

Drewnowski, director of the center for obesity

research at the University of Washington.

Although only 28 percent of all the stores in

Orangeburg County carried any of the fruits and

vegetables-apples, cucumbers, oranges,

tomatoes-that were part of the survey, Liese and

her colleagues found plenty of healthy foods in

the county's 20 supermarkets and grocery stores.

The situation in the convenience stores was

decidedly grimmer. Only 4 percent of them carried

high-fiber bread, and only 2 percent carried

low-fat or skim milk.

Poverty poses a big barrier to good nutrition in

rural areas. " Eating healthier is more

expensive, " says Jodi Bates, who operates the

Compassion in Action food bank in Orangeburg

County, where the median household income is just

$30,000 and 22 percent of the residents fall

below the poverty line. Last year food stamps

went to 10.3 percent of rural Americans, versus

7.3 percent of urban ones, and 31 percent of

rural grade-schoolers got a free or reduced

lunch, compared to 25 percent of urban

grade-schoolers.

Rural Americans are at increased risk of what the

government calls " low food security, " better

understood as fear of going hungry. According to

new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,

more than 35.5 million Americans (not including

the nation's 750,000 or so homeless people) fell

into this category last year. The highest food

insecurity rates were in states with large rural

populations: Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and

South Carolina. Ironically, people with low food

security are often hungry-and fat. The reason:

they binge on cheap, high-calorie foods that fill

them up. " People don't think of people who are

obese as struggling with hunger, when of course

many of them are, " says Weill of FRAC. " Poverty

and food insecurity and obesity are often linked

not because poor people are getting too much food

from programs but because they're not getting

enough resources to obtain a healthy diet. " And

according to a study published this month in the

Journal of the American Dietetic Association by

the University of Washington, the cost of fresh

fruits and vegetables is increasing faster than

the cost of other foods.

Nutritionists and anti-hunger activists know what

rural Americans should eat. In an ideal world,

says Weill, more people would take advantage of

nutrition and financial education programs, like

those offered by the USDA, that teach consumers

how to make a food budget and use recipes. The

2007 Farm Bill would in°©crease food stamp access

and benefits and allocate an additional $2.75

billion over 10 years to buy fruits and

vegetables for the USDA's nutrition assistance

programs, including the national school lunch and

breakfast programs. (The USDA now runs a pilot

program that gives kids in 25 schools in eight

states fresh fruit during the day.) Jan Probst,

director of the South Carolina Rural Health

Research Center, has hopes that these new

measures could help prevent what may be an

oncoming health catastrophe in rural America: " If

you start now, these people won't be having heart

attacks at 40. "

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/76929

© 2007 Newsweek.com