Among the wacky ideas held by many urban planners is the notion that “food deserts”–that is, areas of cities without supermarkets–contribute to obesity. According to this theory, people who lack access to supermarkets eat many unhealthy meals at fast food restaurants. This reasoning is used to justify subsidies to supermarkets–often financed through TIF–in those areas.
However, the Los Angeles Times reports that a new study from the University of North Carolina Nutrition Transition program finds that merely putting a supermarket in the middle of a food desert won’t change people’s eating habits.
The Antiplanner checked the home page for Barry Popkin, the author of the UNC study. He’s found that the entire world is getting fat, not just those “auto-dependent” Americans. The average body-mass index (BMI for an American six-year-old is 22.2; the average for a six-year-old in China–which has one-sixth as many cars per capita as the United States–is 24.8. So much for the idea that rebuilding America to look more like Europe or Asia will cure us of our obesity.
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In particular, Popkin’s research compares physical activity with the built environment and finds–whaddyaknow–that self-selection has a lot to do the the relationship between the two. In other words, people who live in walkable neighborhoods are more active because they choose to be, not because they live in walkable neighborhoods. So spending millions in subsidies and passing coercive rules mandating pedestrian-friendly design is not going to get people to stop driving and start cycling to work.
It would be nice to think that urban planners and elected officials who are eager to hand out subsidies and pass increasingly restrictive laws could learn from results like these. But they seem to easily ignore anything that doesn’t confirm their preconceived notions or the justification for subsidies to the interest groups who contribute to their political campaigns.
It was pretty obvious that the concept of “food deserts” in urban centers was a left-wing fantasy.
The many small grocery stores opened by entrepreneurial Asian-Americans stock whatever they find will sell and are fiercely competitive. If nothing else, the urban core have very subsidized transportation for miles in every direction, so they can buy whatever food they want. Nonetheless, the last thing the left wing wants is for Wal-Mart to open a store near these people.
It really isn’t that hard to figure out why people choose high fat fast food over arugula and rutabagas. It doesn’t take a conspiracy theory about how Asian entrepreneurs and Wal-Mart secretly plot to fatten urban dwellers.
Rules are “coercive” when they provide for pedestrians.
(No mention of all the rules and codes that effectively mandate car use through most of our great land.)
Interesting…
Among the wacky ideas held by many urban planners is the notion that “food desertsâ€â€“that is, areas of cities without supermarkets–contribute to obesity.
What’s inconvenient to the weak, cherry-picked weak weak argument is the fact that Randal “forgot” to mention the concern of the public health community, the medical community, the psychiatric community, the…
Please.
At any rate, the finding – Instead, income — and proximity to fast food restaurants — were the strongest factors in food choice. has been known for years. Harpers had a cover story over a decade ago about the phenomenon: Let Them Eat Fat**.
The sane portion of society awaits additional findings to corroborate this papers’ findings.
DS
** http://harpers.org/archive/2000/03/0063534
A couple of thoughts,
As a planner who went to planning school, AND as a person who has checked this blog almost every day for several years now, this is the very first I’ve ever heard of “food deserts.” I’m not sure the idea is a prevalent as Mr. O’Toole implies, though I’m sure there has been some literature produced on the topic.
Also the idea of self selection has been discussed at great length on this blog in regards to the choice of urban/suburban form, and I think (could be wrong) there is some consensus in that people of means choose their environment to fit their life style, and it’s not that the urban/suburban for “makes” the individual.
Sandy Teal:
It was pretty obvious that the concept of “food deserts†in urban centers was a left-wing fantasy.
Really? And you know this because you have spent how much time in the poorest neighborhoods of cities? In West Philadelphia, for example, before these programs brought in an Aldi’s, a Shoprite, and two Fresh Grocer supermarkets, there were ZERO supermarkets in a several square mile area which was home to hundreds of thousands of people. There is still an almost complete absence of supermarkets in North Philadelphia.
The many small grocery stores opened by entrepreneurial Asian-Americans stock whatever they find will sell and are fiercely competitive.
They sell whatever high mark-up items they can fit in their tiny stores. Have you ever been in one of these stores or shopped in them? They also typically weren’t “opened” by Asians, but were rather taken over by them from previous operators. Most of these stores are primarily deli’s serving sandwiches, ice cream, and soft drinks with a minor amount of shelving devoted to actual groceries, all of which are very high price due to the economics of these types of stores. Many of these types of markets are also run by blacks, Jews, Arabs, Italians, and hispanics, and there are also other types of shops like fishmongers and butchers, although obviously in much more limited numbers. You might know that if you had ever actually walked street level in one of these neighborhoods and been in the shops and businesses.
If nothing else, the urban core have very subsidized transportation for miles in every direction, so they can buy whatever food they want.
That assertion doesn’t make much sense. The people in question are generally so poor they can barely afford much of anything. Travelling miles without a car to get to a grocery store via a bus is generally impractical. The reason the so-called Asian markets exist is to serve the carless population who can mostly only walk in the local neighborhood.
Nonetheless, the last thing the left wing wants is for Wal-Mart to open a store near these people.
That seems to be purely a problem in NYC and its bizzarre franchise laws for business. Walmart and other big-box retailers have had no problem locating in most other urban areas.
Yes, those tiny stores often feature outrageous prices.
Basically obesity is a byproduct of the times, those that can better afford to eat often do so if not more than they should. All it takes is a little willpower and a little common sense. What it doesn’t take is a village to raise us. Can fast food providers make healthier meals, maybe, ask them. Start your own fast food drive thru for healthier meals. If you don’t like McDonald’s don’t go there. These restaurants are not black holes drawing in the masses. People that wanna ban fast food are just a bunch of snobs. The proof is simple they’re not going after the fancier gourmet restaurants that offer food that may be just as bad for you. Then there’s the architectural aesthetic of these restaurants. The heavy plastic look is history. A clean, simple design is on the way in. I once saw a McDonald’s from a colonial house (it may have been on of those house charities things). Many of their restaurants in cities are converted from old buildings.
Here’s one in an Italian piazza.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/McDonald%27s_restaurant_-_Piazza_di_Spagna%2C_ground_floor.jpg
And one in Banbury, UK. Not bad.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/McDonald%27s_Bridge_St%2C_Banbury.jpg
Austria opened it’s first one in 1978………..
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Palais-wertheim.jpg
Chile….
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/McDonalds._Valparaiso%2C_Chile.jpg
Prague….
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Palace_savarin_prague_2447.JPG
Budapest, Hungary (get it hungry)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Budapest_Mc_Donald_1.jpg
This one’s my favorite.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Architektura_mcDonalds_ubt.jpeg
As a planner who went to planning school, AND as a person who has checked this blog almost every day for several years now, this is the very first I’ve ever heard of “food deserts.â€
Some of what I do turns up on the public health side. I assure you the public health folks are concerned about this issue. There are several factors at work here contributing to obesity, and one factor is the lack of quality food. Subisdized corn is right up there too.
DS
I’ve heard of the problems associated with lack of access to healthy foods, particularly on Indian lands, but this is the first I’ve read the term “food desert.”
The 2008 Farm Bill directed the Department of Agriculture to study food deserts.
First lady Michelle Obama helped popularize the term in 2010 while discussing her commitment to improving access to fresh foods. In the past year, retailers Walgreens, Rite Aid and Duane Reade began selling fruit and other fresh foods. And in New York, the city is offering incentives to supermarkets to open in neighborhoods where there is a shortage of groceries selling fresh food.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-07-13-food-deserts-farmers-market-agriculture_n.htm?csp=34news
Good thing the obesity epidemic is a US only phenomenon:
“The average Swede may be getting older, fatter and drinking more,”
http://www.thelocal.se/31552/20110120/
Maybe it is because of the Tube and healthy food:
“Deep-fried Mars myth is dispelled”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4103415.stm
Deep-fried Mars bar??????
irandom,
Swedes are overweight at about the same percentage that Americans are obese. They got a ways to go before they are even close to us. Case in point: Deep fried Mars Bar? Puuuleeezzz! Last year the Texas State Fair debuted their latest fried invention… Deep Fried Butter. USA, USA, USA!
I’m sure glad that Los Angeles wasn’t deterred by a lack of evidence before they decided to ban fast food outlets.
And when a retailer who might be able to offer groceries (including produce) wants to locate in central city areas, what kind of reception do they receive?
Interesting article, MJ. Of course, anti-Walmart action is driven largely by ideologues or by overpriced stores threatened by competition. The left-wing stooges who rail against WalMarts are silently backed by overpriced chains such as Safeway.
I understand that Portland thinks it has a whole bunch of “food deserts”, mostly on the east side. What do you want to bet that they will do their best to prevent WalMarts from filling these voids, however?
MJ, if you actually looked at the evidence, you’d see the evidence states that fast food is a major contributor. And poor people in food deserts aren’t opposing a BigBox that will be empty in 7 years and sit empty for years.
But thanks!
DS
Really? And you know this because you have spent how much time in the poorest neighborhoods of cities?
I lived in a collapsing section of Buffalo for 20 years. I watched as supermarket after supermarket closed for lack of business and corner groceries became more important. In Buffalo, most of the inner-city delis are run by Yemeni immigrants and, as Randall noted, the competition is fierce.
The one closest to me, at one time, sold fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions and celery. Gradually, though, the selection dwindled to just enough to make the submarine sandwiches he offered. No one wanted the produce for itself.
Small deli owners really will carry what their customers want. In my case that was a huge selection of “Goya” products — canned and frozen food aimed at Puerto Ricans. Candy, bread, ice cream, lottery tickets and cigarettes were also highly popular.
Now, I owned a car and there were several excellent supermarkets (including a Wegman’s) within a two mile radius. I didn’t suffer and anyone who truly wanted good food could get there, too. But this idea that “food deserts” exist despite, somehow, local customer demand is a liberal, anti-capitalist, nanny fantasy.
Poor, inner-city residents are notoriously unconcerned with their own welfare. Accept it.
They’ve already identified “obesity epidemics” in the United Kingdom, Australia (which is now statisically number one). France is the second largest consumer of McDonald’s in the world as I remember watching CBS on a foreign report regarding what they called the American Burger invasion.
You often don’t find large grocery stores in cities because land tends to be expensive in cities. It’s more bearable in smaller towns. But nowadays you can order groceries online or have it shipped to you by catalog both paper or online. I luv metrosucks response that anti-Walmart behavior is more motivated by ideology. Hell even wealthy people shop at Walmart. Don’t spread this around, I’m more of a Target guy anyway.
And fast food is no longer the bottom of the barrel. If there’s one thing Fast food has done; it’s eliminated the socio-economic disparity of eating. Regardless of whether your black/white, rich/poor, foreign/native your basically getting the same thing.
Andy Warhol spoke it so well….. “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca-Cola, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it”
This is one of my favorite pictures.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/McDonalds_Milan.jpg
MJ, if you actually looked at the evidence, you’d see the evidence states that fast food is a major contributor. And poor people in food deserts aren’t opposing a BigBox that will be empty in 7 years and sit empty for years.
Your post contained no evidence, but thanks! Big boxes aren’t always the only option in places like Los Angeles, but as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers.
The notion of “food deserts” always struck me as odd. Perhaps there is not a supermarket within a 5-minute walk of everyone in a city, but the notion that people face huge impediments in accessing grocery outlets seems like a bit of an exaggeration. The link to obesity is even more tenuous. I can reach about 10 fast food locations within probably a 5 to 10-minute drive, but I am still far from obese, and my residential location does not seem to have changed that within the last year or so.
Even if this were a problem, it would seem that giving residents access to better transportation (or better yet, access to resources so that they can choose their own transportation) would be an easy solution. Trying to lure retailers into markets they view unfavorably does not seem like a good substitute.
Poor, inner-city residents are notoriously unconcerned with their own welfare. Accept it.
Thanks for saying this so I don’t have to. It’s a rather blunt, perhaps even impolite thing to say publicly, but it is more true than we’d like to admit. Even if there is a ban on new Burger Kings in their neighborhood, people will still seek them out if that is what they really want. That’s a tough thing to admit, and it’s much easier and more palatable for well-meaning public health professionals and opportunistic urban planners to concoct new narratives to explain adverse health outcomes, especially when these vary by location.
MJ, Randal gave you a link to read that explained it for you, right at the beginning:
Instead, income — and proximity to fast-food restaurants — were the strongest factors in food choice.
We also know the poor South are among the most obese, as are the other poor SES groups (not all, but many).
Thanks!
DS
The same study also found that expensive restaurants and boutique organic food grocery stores cause nearby neighborhoods to have high incomes and far more personal trainers per capita.
Dan reminds me of some wealthy physicians I know from Los Angeles. I was explaining to them the story of my Russian friend, who is married to a Muslim man, and how the woman wanted to take a job in a factory so she could help with household bills. The husband responded “You can take the job as long as you maintain your current household duties.”
And my rich doctor friend from Los Angeles said, cluelessly, “Why doesn’t she just hire a maid to take care of her household duties?”
The same disconnect appears to be there with Dan. I’m guessing he associates with no one who is poor, no one who is morbidly obese, no one who knows struggle and the value of just having food in one’s stomach whether it’s from McDonald’s or a vending machine.
What is your solution, Dan? Should these obese citizens start urban gardening and riding light rail?
Thanks!
+1
Under-wattaged dissemblings and mischaracterizations notwithstanding, there are plenty of organizations expanding urban gardens to areas with food deserts. There’s a story in the paper today** of one that suffered from our recent monsoon events. Our neighborhood garden harvests our produce for several organizations in poor areas. This past week was cilantro and zuke. I’ll likely take last years’ technology transfer experiments over to our neighborhood garden to grow winter greens to make room for this years’ designs.
DS
** http://www.denverpost.com/ci_18488861
“This sowed the seeds for the creation of Revision International and from that Re:farm, where the Westwood backyard gardens are part of a program that centers on low-income families who live in food deserts — neighborhoods that lack stores with fresh food and produce.
It started in 2009 with just seven families and swiftly grew to 87.
“I never ate organic vegetables before,” said Herrera, kneeling by the remains of her Swiss chard. “This was really good — it doesn’t taste like what they have in the grocery stores.””
Shut up planner, with your bs words like “technology transfer experiments”, always using a hundred fancy words where two simple ones will suffice. That’s how planners snow the public and sell bs like light rail and streetcars.
This is another example of what I call middle class correlation syndrome. In the quest to move the poor to middle class status, liberals confuse correlation with causation. What are the attributes of the middle class? They own their own homes, they go to college, they shop in supermarkets, etc. So what should be done? Subsides home ownership for people who can’t afford the mortgage (we all see the results of that), subsides college tuition (causing tuition costs to greatly exceed inflation), create terms like “food deserts” to justify whatever intervention is desired.
There is nothing special about supermarkets — I shop in many small Asian and ethnic shops in poorer areas of town. There is plenty of fresh food at the same prices as in the supermarket. If there was more local demand I’m sure there would more shops and all the desired goods would be available.
Forcing people into supermarkets won’t make them middle class or less obese.
liberals [sic] confuse correlation with causation…justify whatever intervention…”Forcing” people into supermarkets
Standard ideological pap aside, someone else who doesn’t want to get it.
But gee whiz! maybe all the programs, scholarship and anecdotes are suddenly wrong, destroyed by a blog post and a few harrumphing* comments! Wowzers! Stranger things have happened, ya know.
DS
* http://harpers.org/archive/2000/03/0063534
How convenient that the lying planner’s “proof” directs you to a subscription-only site. You know, only viewable by smarter, more sophisticated people, such as himself.
LazyReader; This is one of my favorite pictures.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/McDonalds_Milan.jpg
THWM: There are also plenty of Micky D’s in or beside train stations too.
Oh, I see. Let’s build train stations so McDonald’s will move there. What a brilliant move!
The sad thing is that obesity is not a pressing medical issue nor an epidemic. Fat cells don’t causes diseases. There are joint issues but middle of the pack at worst in terms of medical issues. It’s sad to see people and politicians cling to century old medical hoodoo and use it to rationalize their semi-dictatorial actions.
The sad thing is that obesity is not a pressing medical issue nor an epidemic.
Wrong and wrong.
Argumentum ad ignorantiam: still never compelling.
DS
Food deserts don’t make you fat, food desserts make you fat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ZcZ2h4Ths @ 1:52
A couple of old studies to show America is a bunch of fat asses. It’s true, though. When you use 19th century criteria (BMI), we are fat. (Do YOU believe in fairies, unicorns, or the BMI?) Both studies rely on BMI (one from self-reported data), a system first developed in the 1830s. You know. When capitalism was keeping people skinny by working them to the bone.
The people who make this sh!t up are the people who fail to tell you that the odds of contracting HIV during hetrosexual sex if you don’t know the status of your partner are one in MILLIONS (and if the person you engage with is HIV+, your odds are still one in thousands). It’s a result of America’s culture of fear. Highlight the worst-worst case scenario to control behavior.
One study points for a need for people to take responsibility for their actions: “U.S. medical expenditures in 1998 [because of obesity] and may have been as high as $78.5 billion ($92.6 billion in 2002 dollars). Medicare and Medicaid finance approximately half of these costs.” [Emphasis added.] Let’s say fat fu©ks are costing more money for health care. They THEY should pay for their Twinkie habits, not the taxpayers. (And taxpayer should stop footing the bill for obesity caused by billions of dollars in food stamp purchaces for Twinkies, Coke, donuts, cakes, etc.) This is a reason AGAINST government health care and intervention in the economy. At least evil capitalism kept people thin. And thin people live longer.
31. posted on July 17th, 2011 at 4:02 pm Dan said:
Argumentum ad propositum ignorantiam: still never compelling.
DS
Repetition rather than engagement. Dan’s M.O. No refutation that government is fueling the “obesity epidemic” through corn subsidies, food stamp programs that allow participants to buy candy bars, soda, and donuts, and the direct brainwashing of students that milk actually does an adult body good. In short, lots of hand flapping shows that Dan knows the government plays a direct role in the the fatties becoming fatties.
But appeals to authority are the only way Dan can keep it up anymore, if you know what I mean.
I completely agree, Frank. The subsidization of the corn market, for example, directly leads to the use of high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, which many would argue is far less healthy than straight cane sugar.
But since when would Dan want to assign any blame to the Government?
I have seen all the documentaries about high fructose corn syrup and such, and they make some interesting points, but they never show any financial math on the subsidy. Sweeteners and salt are extremely cheap additives to food. They are also extremely tasty. I doubt it would make any difference if they were free or triple the price.
In a typical fast food restaurant, the entrees break even or lose money. The soda (sweetener) and french fries (salt and oil) are huge profit. Thus, the “meal deals.” The only thing more profitable is alcohol, which very big profit in a restaurant.
The concept of “food deserts” is just intellectually bankrupt. Grocery stores spend huge amounts of time and money figuring out what their customers want. Tiny grocery stores do too, perhaps even more per revenue dollar than Wal-Mart.
But it is just politically incorrect to say that certain neighborhoods want something different than University faculty, and that is why Universities work so hard to skew the data to make politically correct findings. University social sciences have been so wrong about so many of their “findings” that real sciences just completely ignore them.
Agreed, Sandy. Especially with:
But it is just politically incorrect to say that certain neighborhoods want something different than University faculty, and that is why Universities work so hard to skew the data to make politically correct findings
…which is why social sciences has never been considered “real” sciences.
Repetition rather than engagement.
False assertions and blatant mischaracterizations rather than accuracy or engagement.
No refutation that government is fueling the “obesity epidemic†through corn subsidies,
Blatantly false statements rather than accuracy (pssst…comment #7).
Ah, well. Those having no argument must have something to say in opposition, even if its transparently and scurrilously false I guess. Take that away and what do they have?
DS
Hey ignorant Danny the Troll! Can you do math, or at least use a calculator?
The $7 billion fed subsidy and crop insurance payments for corn, on 14 billion bushels of corn, which sell for $685 per bushel, means the subsidy is at most 0.07% of the cost of raw corn.
So Danny the Troll thinks a 0.07% subsidy changes how the whole country eats. Guess they don’t teach math at Troll School.
Ok. So corn subsidies aren’t a primary driving factor in obesity. Let’s then turn to the second part, which you conveniently eliminated in 41:
No refutation that government is fueling the “obesity epidemic†through
corn subsidies,food stamp programs that allow participants to buy candy bars, soda, and donutsFood stamp program participation is positively related to obesity in low income women
D Gibson – The Journal of nutrition, 2003 – Am Soc Nutrition
The food insecurity-obesity paradox: a review of the literature and the role food stamps may play
LM Dinour, D Bergen… – Journal of the American Dietetic …, 2007 – Elsevier
Effects of food stamp participation on body weight and obesity
Z Chen, ST Yen… – American Journal of Agricultural …, 2005 – JSTOR
Does Participation in the Food Stamp Program Affect the Prevalence of Obesity and Health Care Spending?
CD Meyerhoefer… – Unpublished Manuscript, 2006 – papers.ssrn.com
Long-term food stamp program participation is positively related to simultaneous overweight in young daughters and obesity in mothers
D Gibson – The Journal of nutrition, 2006 – Am Soc Nutrition
The evidence is unequivocal that GOVERNMENT is making upwards of 45 MILLION American food stamp recipients fat by providing free soda, free donuts, and free other food products made with subsidized corn syrup.
This is all predicated on an epidemic based on using the problematic BMI as a rubric for obesity.
Ah, well. Those having no argument must have something to say in opposition, even if its transparently and scurrilously false I guess. Take that away and what do they have?
As usual, you are missing the point, Dan. Sometimes your interpretation of empirical data is correct, sometimes it is reeking of confirmation bias. Regardless, it’s irrelevant.
That’s because most people here don’t really take issue with your stance, your analysis, or your data. They take issue with the fact that you’re a contemptible gasbag.
Bennett and Andrew appear to come from your same ideological camp but at least they are generally civil and receptive to constructive debate. You though, are a pathological naysayer and obsessive-compulsive hatchetman, which you amply demonstrate any time you type something here.
I have a hard time believing that even your fellow planners find your tactics admirable, pragmatic or helpful.
Thanks for that!
food stamp programs that allow participants to buy candy bars, soda, and donuts
OK. Sure. But it is not a replacement for the food desert issue, which is real as we see above.
And thank you for your perspicacity young Borscht; aside from the fact that you don’t like folk calling out blatant falsehoods or scurrilous mischaracterizations, one wonders why your important concern doesn’t extend to people who scurrilously misrepresent what others write? Isn’t that a form of gaseous effluent as well? Is there perhaps some harrumphment bias evident in our wish for the thread to resemble a reassuring pablum of narrow worldview?
Ah, well. We can’t have everything. Where would you put it?
DS
No matter how many fancy words you use, you are not fooling anyone here. Everyone on this blog hates you and your arrogance. Even those who would normally be your allies. Go away.
Thanks for the response, Dan. My orifices are cooing.
Metrosucks, I found a neat trick. If you run Dan’s remarks through an online translator to another language — Russian, for instance, the world’s greatest language — and then back to English, the comments tend to make MUCH more sense. His words resonate:
OK. Sure. But it is not a replacement for the food of desert issue (low-wattage), which is real, as we see. And thanks your perspicacity (Koch Brothers), Young of Borscht; aside to fact you don’t like folk calling blatant falsehoods (Faux News!), scurrilous mischaracterizations, one wonders why your important of concern (red meat to ideologues) doesn’t extend for people of scurrilously misrepresentation for writing? Isn’t that the form of a gaseous effluence as well? Is there some harrumphment bias evident in our wish (paid liars’) thread to resemble reassuring pablum – narrow of your worldview (Autoplanner!? Ah, well. We don’t have of everything (guvmint). Where would you place it on top of me (clownish</b)?
DS
Transparent avoidance of assertions for harrumphment bias aside, there are some sites on The Internets that are a treasure trove of Internet Performance Art. The person who created the Borscht character is a hoot. Props.
Nonetheless, no word on whether the thousands working on alleviating the well-known issues of food deserts have given up in horror because of an entry on some blog, and a few clueless comments therein. Hopefully they won’t consume DingDongs and fried pork rinds bought on a gummint handout, fer shure.
DS
You’re right, Iced. The mentally ill character behind the Dan persona really does speak in some sort of weird dialect, maybe Plannerussian.