Food.

I've been accused of being a liberal, and depending on the topic, I won't argue that. Two topics where my bleeding heart comes out to play are food stamps and the accessibility of fresh food, because eating healthy involves a lot of things we, in the more financially stable socioeconomic brackets, take for granted:

Grocery Stores
It's true. There are cities in this country which lack the corner stone of eating well: Grocery Stores. When I visited Michigan last year I was floored by the scarcity of grocery stores in the inner cities. There were fast food joints, liquor stores, and convenience stores a plenty, but a grocery store was hard to find. Sure, if you had a car or access to public transportation you could get to one. This bring me to.....

Transportation
I've lived in Chicago and Oakland without owning a car. Going to the grocery store was an ordeal. In Chicago it was what I could carry and in Oakland it was what I could attach to my bicycle. In Chicago during severe weather (read: sub zero temps and blizzards) I opted to shop for food at the Walgreen's across the street. That's right, Walgreen's. There are no fresh vegetables in Walgreen's. If I had to get to the store, I could take the train and choose a station below ground to stay out of the cold. In Michigan, not so lucky. They have buses. If you are hungry, you head to the corner store for whatever they have that is edible, or you hang out and wait for an underfunded public bus to pick you up. In the warmer temps it's not so bad, but in the winter, forget about it. Riding a bike loaded with groceries isn't so terrible, but personal transportation in the comfort of your own car is hard to beat. Cars and transportation for a family can be quite expensive, which brings me to.....

Money
Melicious sent me this article about eating well on food stamps and it's a sobering reminder that food equals money. I hate to admit it. I'd love so much for the heads of cabbage and greens I eat to be cheaper than a box of Hamburger Helper, but unfortunately that's not the reality. Much of the bad food on the tables of low income families isn't because they don't care, it's a mixture of just not knowing how to make it work and not being able to afford it. This is an article breezing over the reasons why there is such a financial disparity between the good food and the bad food. Yep. Politics. Suh-prise Suh-prise.

There are individuals out there working hard to get fresh produce into communities with limited access, but this is often an uphill battle. Hopefully with enough exposure, more communities can gain access to good food. Eating healthier food is the first step in preventing disease, and in my opinion should be the starting point of healthcare reform. Contrary to popular belief, healthcare reform is everyone's responsibility, and we don't have to wait for politicians to figure it out. Instead of barking about it in the comfort of your own home, get out there and sponsor a family, volunteer to teach a cooking/budget class at your church/community center, or offer to take someone to a grocery store that would otherwise have no means to get there. It took a long time to get to this place, and it will take a long time, plus a concerted effort from all, to get out of it.

If anyone knows of specific programs in the Austin area, please post them to the comments. I'll research and post what I find....