More Evidence of a Conspiracy
Over the last few years my
wife and I have had many discussions concerning the state of health in our
community particularly the number of people we see that are obviously not in
the best of health. The visual evidence is clear and overwhelming as people are
expanding horizontally. The levels of obesity are obvious and may be an intended
result of the fast food, food supply, and pharmaceutical industries.
As with any retail business,
location is everything and people will likely patronize that which is in close
proximity to where they live. Now when you also add in the convenience factor
you will increase the likelihood that your business will thrive. Also consider
the impact of marketing and very few choices even close to being considered healthy;
you have created a monopoly of patrons. These businesses are right next door
(location), they are quick to serve (convenience), they target your area (marketing),
and there are no other choices unless you choose to cook for yourself. However
if you choose to eat out you must be willing to leave your neighborhood if you
want healthy choices.
No healthy choices on the
front end where good nutrition may decrease the need for what is in ample
supply, medical facilities including clinics and dialysis centers, pharmacies
on every corner, and doctor’s offices as well as several medical centers. In fact the medical and pharmaceuticals are
so prevalent they are now found in the mega supermarkets. Even in major
supermarkets the healthy choices are limited to the perimeter of the
supermarket. Once you venture into the middle aisles there are almost no
healthy choices. Let me say that again once you travel into those aisles between
the first and last aisles there very few healthy choices. If you do not believe
me take a careful look at the ingredients as they increase in volume and
difficulty to pronounce.
So here is what it appears
to me since I do not believe in coincidence. Let’s take a hard look at the
location of retailers that are distributing fast fried preserved genetically
modified foods and the location of pharmacies. Ask yourself have you ever been
to the pharmacy and have it not be busy? Within one mile of my home there are 2.5
supermarkets, no health food stores or distributors of fruit and veggies other
than the supermarket, yet there a total of 6 pharmacies. Count them 6 pharmacies
for the same population that only requires 2.5 supermarkets. Coincidence I
think not.
Do you think this is an
accident? If so stop reading now. If you are willing to consider this proposal
keep reading. As one of my mentors use to say, “Garbage in garbage out.”
Problem is this data is real in my neighborhood and even worse in others. What
if I told you there are studies that prove that when healthier choices are
available at a reasonable cost people will make healthier choices. So why are
certain communities without healthier alternatives? There are many poor and
rural communities that do not have even one supermarket within walking distance
but poor choices are everywhere. See this link if you are not convinced http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2661915/
Now I cannot prove this
beyond providing some anecdotal evidence at this point and if I am going to
take this hypothesis any further I will need the help of everyone who reads
this. It won’t take much more than making some careful observations about the
area where you live. Count the number of food serving or selling establishments
that provide a significant amount of healthy choices. This may include full
sized supermarkets including the super stores and warehouse stores. Then I want
you to count the number of retailers selling fast food, fried food, sandwich
stores and pharmacies. Send it into this site via the comment section or you
may email me henryjay1958@gmail.com.
I will collect the information for the month of April 2013 do the math and
report back.
I beseech you to Get Up Get Moving cause…
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