Fatties, cont'd.
Thank you, Bridget, for drawing our attention to the obesity crisis that's, er, weighing down our children. I don't mean to make light -- sorry! -- of the situation, but I just want to point out the fat, er, fact, that rampant obesity would seem to flatten Assemblyman Mark Leno's bloated claim that we're all starving because of an under-nourished food-stamp program.
Our nation -- the inner-city in particular -- can't be both obese and famished at the same time. As the ever-mounting girth of the nation suggests, we have a problem on our hands, but it's not hunger.
PS -- Yes, I think South Park refs limit has been maxed. Thank you for asking!
Chris,
It is true that people can't be fat and starving at the same time. People can, however, be fat and malnourished.
Presently the federal Food Stamp Program allows food stamp recipients to buy any type of food save hot and prepared meals. If the food stamp allowance was increased, and certain limits were placed on what food products could be bought (no snack chips, no soda, etc.), this might help improve the health of the population on relief. While the idea of spending more on the program might at first seem inadvisable, it also seems possible that spending more on food stamps would result in fewer expenditures down the line for our other social service programs, such as Medicaid.