uptowngirl
uptowngirl

Fighting Fast Food in New York City

The City fathers are at it again as city officials are thinking of banning fast food out lets from high obesity areas of the city. More than obesity levels folks who live in these high risk areas are more concerned about the loss of jobs from the neighborhoods.
http://www.metro.us/us/news/newyork/


Most obese residents:

East Harlem: 44.2 percent

East New York/New Lots: 35.6 percent

South Bronx: 33.8 percent

Least obese residents:

Upper East Side/Gramercy: 11 percent

Chelsea/Greenwich Village: 9.8 percent

Upper West Side: 8.2 percent

New York City Community Health Survey of 2008 gives an estimate of these high risk areas and the figures don't throw up any surprises, but is this the right approach to tackling the problem? Cheap food is usually calorie filled and artery clogging and its no wonder that it is consumed in the areas of the city which are considered to be not particularly affluent. More than banning these fast food outlets perhaps the officials can try persuading them to offer less fattening, flavorful alternatives. I mean Macdonald's doesn't have to offer only sweetened Ice tea it should even offer an unsweetened version just like the more upmarket Starbucks does. Surely it can afford to at the same price point , What do you think?
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I read somewhere that the absence of green grocers selling fresh produce in Spanish Harlem is a major factor in health problems of all kinds for the residents of that area. Don't know if banning fast food outlets is the answer (or is even constitutional) but I'm glad someone is actually trying to address this discrepancy.

@uptowngirl It's just that I've seen the so'called McDonald's salads and they are basically some unappetizing brown lettuce and exactly ONE cherry tomato, for like $5. Not sure I want to leave McDonalds the task of offering healthful alternatives to people. Plus, that's not really their job. They didn't go into the market to provide healthy food to the poor, they went in to sell cheap, formulaic fast food that would make them a big profit.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
The problem, I think, is that crappy food is the cheapest. You can buy a giant extra value meal at McDonalds for like 5 bucks. And, a sandwich at the deli (you'll be hungry again 2 hours later) is close to 10.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@JenMac At what Deli? You can get a sandwich at a BK deli for $5.

I think a lot of people are undereducated about the cost of food - they think they are getting a deal with a McDonald's meal, but whipping up some rice and beans is a lot more cost effective. I have seen some lean times in my career, and I was certainly not hitting up the dollar menu - that is actually not cost effective, just seems that way.

@everyone I definitely do not think that banning these places is the right thing to do - for many reasons - and from what I understand about the fast food industry, they will never let this happen anyway.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: I'm not surprised by East Harlem and South Bronx, as I lived near there at one time. But I am surprised by the fact, certain areas in Manhattan have low obese areas, since when I run on subway each morning, the people who get on the train, many are fat.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
@neversleeps: These tiny sandwiches at Khim's across from my apartment are 7 bucks. Im hungry like 2 hours after I eat of them.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps I so agree with you about rice and beans. Thats one of my favorite meals, brown rice and a bean curry. Try and eat it for lunch quite often and its not that expensive at all.

Of all the fast food joints , I think Energy Kitchen is the healthiest and they claim nothing on their menu is more than 500 calories. Their bison burgers are quite substantial and delicious but at $7-$8 they are way more expensive than a McDonald's.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted I speak for the Upper East Side where people are quite fitness conscious and generally slim. Very rarely do you see an obese person in my neck of the woods.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@JenMac That's crazy. I can get a huge sandwich in Park Slope for about $5....
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
Yeah, I think heroes at my local deli are about $4.50. Sometimes I opt for the cheese sandwich on a roll, which is about $2. Yay Bushwick and its inexpensive meals!
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Too bad there weren't any statistics for Brooklyn, though the Manhattan figures are pretty telling already. How crazy is it that people are marked by poverty by being obese? Just another way by which the rich and poor see a visual difference, along with good teeth, good skin...money buys beauty in the US.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@DBlack: As my girlfriend once said, "Money buys honey." In other words, the more money you have the better your life can be. That doesn't necessarily mean you will be happier, just richer.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@DBlack So true. I'm scared to count up all the money I spend on beauty products, spa, gym, haircuts and colors, etc. because it would probably total a big chunk of my income. And I don't really feel like any of these are optional, but necessities. You really do get judged by how you look.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
I agree, uraniumfish. I spend so much money just to do the bare minimum of keeping up appearances. I tried cutting back on what I thought was superfluous upkeep spending and I swear I felt old and fat in like a week.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish So true! especially in a city like NYC where almost everyone is well groomed and well dressed.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@uptowngirl Seriously! And people make it their business to point out your defects to you. One day I had put on an old pair of pants that were torn at the bottom of one leg, to run out and get some groceries. And some guy actually stopped me to say that I shouldn't go out in public like that! Sheesh!
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish OMG ! I would have been mad as hell if someone did that to me.. I remember years ago in the mid-1990s when I first came to NYC on holiday, I stayed with friend who told me that New Yorkers don' t ever leave the house without 'their face' i.e. full on war paint.. even to go to the grocery store. I thought she was mad at that time but now I know its true. I somehow just cant manage to be well dressed all the time and in fact I went to dinner at Smith and Wollensky's just last night in a old tatty pair of jeans and a faded black shirt. I didnt deliberately not 'dress up' but had spent the evening looking for window treatments at Bed, Bath and Beyond when this impromptu dinner plan came up and really didnt have time to go home and change..
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I thought anything goes in NYC. I didn't think people would actually say anything if they saw something strange, weird, or out of place.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@hhusted I hardly think a little tear at the bottom of a pair of pants fits the description strange, weird or out of place...
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
I think Brooklyn is a little more relaxed than Manhattan. When I was living in the Village I didn't dare go out of my house unless I was dressed to the nines. And even though I live in Park Slope, I occasionally see someone who obviously just got out of bed to get a pack of cigs at the corner store. Sometimes I am that person.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps Definitely more chill in Brooklyn. Manhattanites are really wound too tightly. When I've lived in Manhattan I too become that person wound too tightly, what with all these concerned strangers putting in their two cents about my appearance...Yeeesh.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Haha. I've been in Italy and everyone is commenting on my appearance - namely, that I'm not wearing enough on my legs and must be freeing! Now, after NYC/England, Italy is positively BOILING to me, so I'm perfectly warm, but enough with the concern already! I like my clothes the way they are
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
Yeah, Brooklyn is way more relaxed. I'm outside in pajamas every day in Willy and I'm fine strictly due to the fact that I actually showered and it appears that most people have not. No one is ever in jammies in the city. Shame.
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DBlack
DBlack 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I sometimes try to give unexpected compliments but I would never stop someone to point out how they're not dressed well enough! What a lot of nerve!
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Only in New York, folks, only in New York. As they say...
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@JenMac pretty funny.

@everyone When I was living in the LES back when it was the hipsterville that has now moved to WilliamsBush, I dared not step outside in my pajamas. But somehow it seems like an okay thing to do in Billyburg... I guess it really is a Brooklyn thing.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
Maybe it is because I've never seen anyone in jammies in Manhattan now that I think about it. And, even when people are dressed in Billburg, "dressed" is a pretty loose term.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@JenMac lol..
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I would LOVE to see jammies become the next big thing in Manhattan. I just met a famous fashion critic recently and she was saying you can make anything into a fashion statement as long as you hold your head up high and walk around like you mean it. Hilarious. She told this story of being a young hipster in SanFran, and one day she wore a while plastic bathing cap to a club. The next week at the same club she saw two other girls wearing plastic bathing caps...

Somebody please start the jammies trend. I think Manhattan needs it.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I agree with you with you stated in one of your posts above that the people in Manhattan are round too tightly. At least they seem to be based on the look on their faces, and that they bump into you and don't say excuse me.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish you said it .. maybe you should try getting a few NYC based models to step out in their jammies..can then just see jammies being the next big thing and stores like H&M, TopShop , Old Navy selling scores of them. Bet Stacy and Clinton of TV's What not to wear fame who fly badly dressed Americans to NYC for makeovers would be suitably horrified.
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