No secret I love a new Cooks Illustrated and having weekend time to cook up a storm for friends. This weekend: homemade hummus, buttermilk biscuits, chicken pot pie. Today, these food photos play well into my food and nutrition theme.
This week is national public health week in the United States; it is the perfect opportunity to discuss what we each can do to improve our community’s health. I studied public health because it in theory it provides a basic standard of health for everyone. It is a form of social justice. You should have clean drinking water, access to markets with healthy foods, a safe living environment, immunizations, access to health care, etc. We all should. We all can.
Chickpeas, spice, roasted garlic +
Today: Food
The US is a fat nation; ironically, the US is also a hungry nation. We have a growing issue of hunger that rarely gets any press because the much noisier issue of Type II diabetes and obesity gets the nutrition attention instead. Don’t get me wrong – both are serious concerns. There are a lot of repercussions of diabetics and obesity. ED, for instance, is a minor issue, but still a cause for concern. And since medications such as viagra and sildenafil are available easily in Blink Health and other similar online pharmacies, sexual health is sorted to an extent. However, what we don’t talk about is this: in the United States obese people (who are often dealing with Type II diabetes) are hungry because they are eating the cheap junk available to them. Obesity — only in America — is often a sign of poverty. In simple terms, the inexpensive foods are processed and high in calories. Fruit and veggies are expensive. Whole grains are more expensive than their cheap, sugary white counterparts. I lived on a food stamp diet for a week last year. My challenges of staying within a $19 budget for 21 meals is journaled here.
Obesity is also potentially causing individuals to be in pain for the issues that can be caused by obesity. One such condition might be chronic joint pain. As health insurance is potentially expensive, and as mentioned above, many of these individuals live in poverty health care and treatments could even be out of their budget. A better way to deal with this could be by eating healthily more often. A regular junk food diet can cause your stomach to bloat, which in turn can cause chest pain. Cooking healthy foods at home is a sensible option for anyone living alone. When that is not possible, you can search for ‘restaurant Roanoke‘ or ‘restaurant nearby’ on the web that can help you find an eatery that serves healthy food. Also, they might as a possible alternative look for something like the possible best CBD gummies for pain. Or they could turn to other forms of self-medication to help them cope with their conditions. For reasons such as these ones you might want to check out what’s available at your local dollar store, or the ethnic grocery in the bad neighborhood in your community. Often the produce is pricey and bruised and the Cheetos flow like manna.
So, what can we do?
Tahini, lemon juice and olive oil =
Locally: Donate to your food bank. Sounds simple and easy, but it is a great way to get involved and play a part to the solution to ending hunger in your neighborhood. And don’t donate food. Give cash. Food banks can buy three times what the average consumer can through their networks. They need your money and your time. Arizonans, here is a great resource that could use your volunteer efforts.
Also, I try to keep a few $5 gift cards for local restaurants in my pocketbook. When I see someone homeless or otherwise obviously in need, there is nothing that lights up a face like the thought of a good meal. Community dinners seem to have a similar effect.
Roasted garlic hummus and spicy squash hummus. Healthy, inexpensive, easy to share with friends.
Nationally: Get involved with America’s Second Harvest. They are the national lobbying arm for the hungry in the US and they are doing some pretty darn amazing things. Also, vote. Know your representative’s issues on funding things like the farm bill — one of the most important pieces of legislation that influences every single American.
Chicken pot pie topped with buttermilk biscuits for a friend recovering from surgery. I used locally grown veggies and buttermilk from a local dairy.
Globally:
Eat locally and seasonally. One of the best ways to help the earth in regards to equitable distribution of food is to eat what is grown in your own backyard. Don’t eat strawberries/salmon/sashimi year-round without considering the carbon footprint of such nonsense. If Americans ate seasonally and locally, we’d revolutionize the amount of food available to folk internationally. It is a humanitarian and patriotic move and something I am working to achieve. It can often be difficult to find locally produced meat, for example. (And needless to say, no sushi in Phoenix is local. But this makes visiting Seattle that much more fun!) Thankfully, we are culturally moving toward providing greener options in food production and consumption. Phoenicians interested in becoming locavores, check this out!
These would be even better with a bit of Arizona acacia honey and a pat of butter from Dugan’s dairy.
~Kelli