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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alexandra_k on September 20, 2014, at 23:13:27
we had an election. same guy as last time. amazing victory. we have an MMP system but the national party got over half the party vote so they don't need to form a coalition to get control of the budget.
like their campaign said: working for nz. and they, uh, are. seem to be. economy on the up... things are pretty much okay. people are pretty much happy. not many wanting a radical change.... ticking along... business as usual.
nobody seemed particularly happy about the state owned asset sales. but the opposition had to admit that they didn't have the money to buy them back. and people do say they want more done to help the poor... but the govenment points out that we don't have a bunch of money sitting around and these more liberal social policies... where is the money coming from to fund all of that?
we did something in law about tax evasion... about how many people sit just under (like, a dollar or two under) the highest taxation threshold. about how many millions of dollars gets lost that way... think of what that could fund... and some lady who reckons she can get lunches in schools for under $1 per child (beans and fresh bread)... and even if the parents are bad for not feeding their kids it still isn't the kids fault... and i do have empathy that the parents (a lot of them) don't actually have enough money to feed their kids properly. and a lot of them don't have the knowledge now, either, with respect to what sorts of things are good and how to prepare etc etc etc.
you would think that work and income would at least offer free courses on how to prepare / cook nutritious food on a budget. but i guess that would make it obvious how nobody can afford to prepare / cook nutritious food on the amount of money you get from winz. sigh. bag of chips per day. how much does that cost?
Posted by alexandra_k on September 21, 2014, at 3:46:48
In reply to election, posted by alexandra_k on September 20, 2014, at 23:13:27
oh. so apparently eminem is suing the national party for using his song in this commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tREF2Q6snPI
lmfao
Posted by alexandra_k on September 21, 2014, at 3:50:35
In reply to Re: election, posted by alexandra_k on September 21, 2014, at 3:46:48
Posted by Beckett on September 24, 2014, at 18:52:02
In reply to Re: election, posted by alexandra_k on September 21, 2014, at 3:46:48
Hey, neither link works.
The same here with food quality and the economy. Middle class malnutrition, many areas without access to grocery stores (I forget the term for this), McDonald's is cheaper and many families do not have time/energy to prepare food after long work days.
Posted by alexandra_k on September 27, 2014, at 19:59:31
In reply to Re: election, posted by Beckett on September 24, 2014, at 18:52:02
hey. sorry about the links, i think it has to do with zoning regions.
i think the food thing is partly about cost... but i think it is mostly about education...
i mean... a macdonald's meal is around $10 here... but you can buy a chicken for around $12 and throw that and a bunch of seasonable vegetables (potatoes and carrots at least) in a slow cooker with some dried herbs and a couple tins of tomatoes in juice and leave it be for a few hours... and throw some rice in a rice cooker and leave it be for 20 minutes... and get 4-6 meals for a total of less than $20...
No additives, no preservatives, no sugar, no corn syrup, no artificial flavors or colors, no MSG, only the salt you add (not 5x more than you need because the sugar disguises the saltiness)... Low fat, high protein, high fibre...
Even if you spend $20 on steak you can make a casserole or stew or something that would feed 4-6 for under $30...
(All these prices are kiwi dollars admittedly...)
And prep is just 'roughly chop' and 'leave it alone'. You can chop it in the evening and sit it in your fridge. Turn the cooker on in the morning. Put the rice on when you get home. Ready in 20 minutes... It does require a little forethought / planning... I think that is the main problem...
One of the supermarkets over here is doing this advertising kick of 'feed 4 for $15'. Partly to compete with fast food places, I think. Their portion sizes are a bit stingy and their prep times are a bit more, though... But rice is cheap and those are pretty good carbs... Things like lentels and beans (your digestive system will adapt - it just does take a week or so for your gut flora to acclimitize)...
I think partly we are addicted to all the crap they put in fast foods. The crap that... Gives you a high then low... Gives you heart disease and diabetes and hypertension and gives you trouble sleeping...
We have tv adds for fancy feast cat food because cats like variety in their diets... only they don't. wild cats are more likely to eat the same kinds of foods most of the time... people should be more like that, really. dan john has this speel on how most people get around 12 foods from the supermarket when they shop... if those foods are meat and veges... some oats... a few nuts... dairy (if tolerated - most can't)... Then all is well. when those foods mostly come in a box and have sugar as ingredient number 2 and additives and preservatives... massive amounts of salt... then there are going to be problems.
fast food... isn't that cheap.
but you can buy a huge bag of potato chips for, like, a buck. and there is your daily calorie requirement right there. or a fresh bakery thing with a shelf life of forever... sixty cents. i remember that... thinking that if i got really broke i could get all the food i needed for a day for, like, sixty cents.
that's pretty sad.
:(
Posted by baseball55 on September 28, 2014, at 19:13:25
In reply to Re: election, posted by alexandra_k on September 27, 2014, at 19:59:31
McDonalds in this area, and probably throughout the states, has a dollar menu that includes things like a double cheeseburger (550 calories). I'm not sure if it costs a dollar or maybe a bit more, but definitely under $2. For a harried person on a low income, it's hard to get a better deal in terms of $ per calorie. It's laden with fat and salt, of course, has no fiber (save for the pickle slices). But if I were really poor, I might eat at McDonald's regularly. Hold the fries and sodas and the food is dirt cheap.
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