From Weasel Zippers: Michelle Obama unveiled the latest push in her healthy-eating campaign Wednesday, announcing several national and regional food retailers have pledged to expand into a string of low-income markets where finding nutritious food options is nearly impossible.
“If a parent wants to pack a piece of fruit in a child’s lunch, if a parent wants to add some lettuce to a salad at dinner, they shouldn’t have to take three city busses . . . to go to another community to make that possible,” the first lady said at during a White House event marking the new effort.
National chains participating in the partnership include Wal-Mart, Walgreens and SuperValu, which have agreed to open or expand more than 1,000 locations as part of the effort to eliminate what the Department of Agriculture calls “food deserts” throughout the country.
A handful of regional retailers are also involved, including Calhoun foods, an Alabama-based chain that currently serves low-income communities with six stores. The minority-owned company, which in the depths of the recession two years ago was forced to cut back workers’ hours to avoid layoffs, said they plan to open 10 additional stores in the coming years in currently under-served communities. CEO Greg Calhoun as well as Jimmie Coleman, a manger at the chain, were on hand for the event.
The Obama administration is committing $35 million to the effort this year and is proposing $330 million from the budget next year.
http://weaselzippers.us/2011/07/20/michelle-obama-launches-campaign-to-eliminate-food-deserts/
Yep, a $365 million gift to the likes of Wal-Mart, Super Valu and probably places like Krogers that in Las Vegas own Smiths and Food 4 Less.
But of course, it may be a problem to find places to place the stores. First, there is a reason why food stores are not in some areas of town. They don't make a profit. Stores are not a charity. Further, most of these areas that don't have stores, previously had them and they had to leave because of low profits and crime. Let's not sugar coat it. There is a reason why there are few, if any food stores by MLK and Bonanza in Las Vegas: It is a bad area of the city and there is a high level of crime. There were stores there, but they were run out.
Second, stores like Wal-Mart have tried to put stores in cities like Chicago and the Milwaukee area and they were either turned down because of political beliefs against Wal-Mart or they put impossible conditions on the stores. these stores were not welcomed and people (say unions) protested these stores coming into their towns.
So, once again, the Obama administration has no clue about what is going on in the community and how the real world works and they are going to pay Wal-Mart and others $365,000,000 to open stores where they were not wanted in the first place.
h/t Dad 29 http://dad29.blogspot.com/
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In one of his books, Thomas Sowell has a chapter entitled "It's Expensive to be Poor". In it he details all of the extra costs, such as increased theft, that businesses in poor communities have to deal with and must pass on to their customers or go out of business.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly well-meaning politicians then jump on these higher prices as evidence of "racism" or some other evil motive, either ignorant, or worse, that they are due to legitimate additional costs of operating in the area. Often they force these businesses to reduce their prices, which drives the store out of business, forcing its former customers to travel farther to shop.
Just as you hinted at, leftist politicians and unions are the primary reasons that Wal-Mart is not present in many cities and the only options for consumers in these areas are higher-priced retailers. If liberals want more and less-expensive retailers to serve poor communities the best thing they could do is butt out.