South Carolina: Fat But Hungry
We were watching a British documentary the other day about “morbidly obese” people … you know, those folks who weigh like eleventy kabillion pounds and can’t get out of their homes without the assistance of a wrecking ball and a forklift.
Anyway, apparently these people are so fat because they stay hungry all the time, which in turn feeds (editor’s note: bad pun) their growing problem.
We found this concept interesting given some recently-released statistics from a group called Feeding America, which ranks South Carolina as the No. 2 “hungriest state” in the nation.
From yesterday’s Greenville News:
Feeding America ranks South Carolina No. 2 nationwide in food insecurities, (group spokesman Vickie) Brannen said. Food insecurity relates to lack of food to meet basic needs.
“It’s not getting easier; it’s not getting better,” Brannen said. “We were not prepared for this by any means.“
Food stamp participation has grown 9.9 percent in South Carolina this June over the previous June, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Hold up … we thought South Carolina was full of fat people? In fact, just last year the state ranked fifth in the nation in the percentage of obese adults (24.5%) and seventh in the nation in the percentage of obese children (17.9%).
So how do these statistics jive with each other? How can a state that’s going hungry also be one of the fattest in the nation?
We asked the lovely Mrs. Sic Willie, a professional nutritionist, who explained that this puzzling discrepancy could stem from a shortage of healthy food.
“Nutritious foods are generally more expensive and less available than foods that are bad for you,” she explained.
She was about to go into further detail when our founding editor emerged from the kitchen with three Hershey’s chocolate bars and a bowl of fried Oreos.
Uh-oh …
Comments
By HP on October 6th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
So the bathroom WAS a good place to hide the contraband.
By just me on October 6th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Your wife is correct. People of less means are not reading labels - they are looking for bargains. And it’s cheaper to pick up a cheap frozen dinner(s) loaded with fat and sodium, or a 99 cent set of cinammon rolls, or the cheap white bread full of hydrogenated corn oil - and easier when you are working . . .
Plus, all the fast food restaurants have cheap food fast - perfect when you have got to eat or feed the family quickly.
And many Southern favorites are cheap and unhealthy - e.g., fried okra, mac and cheese; greens cooked with fatback; southern fried porkchops
By Pole on October 7th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Man, check out those tits!!! You get her phone number?