"Why Grocery Stores Are Avoiding Black Neighborhoods"

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Asia is a big continent indeed.

I had more in mind Japanese markets or Southeast Asian markets.

I visited those when I was in Seattle.

Now here in my town, there are Middle Eastern and Indian grocery stores.

They feature different types of foods.
 
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It’s not just you. I was advised to avoid commercial fish while pregnant. I don’t limit that kind of advice to pregnancy.
 
Sarcelle said:
There was a TV show where a celebrity British chef, Jaime Oliver, tried to improve the diet of school kids in West Virginia. This was a town with a severe obesity problem.

He had a lot of difficulty getting the kids to like fruit and veg. The kids even had problems recognizing fruits and vegetables.
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I watched the whole video and found myself not seeing a clear path forward regarding these food deserts. First the economics are bad (grocery stores lose money in low income neighborhoods), then the video made a point like the one you did here…that there is no market demand for healthy foods…they don’t have a taste preference for it. I guess its really a function of education and some type of incentive to grocery stores to stay open that will reimburse them to carry healthy foods with the shorter shelf life.
 
KMC said:
there is no market demand for healthy foods…
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I’ll probably be called racist for saying this, but having been in black neighborhood stores, I would say their customers really don’t have much taste for healthy foods. “Soul food” is really “poverty food” but lots of blacks have gotten to like it even if they could easily buy other food.
 
Ridgerunner said:
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KMC:
there is no market demand for healthy foods…
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I’ll probably be called racist for saying this, but having been in black neighborhood stores, I would say their customers really don’t have much taste for healthy foods. “Soul food” is really “poverty food” but lots of blacks have gotten to like it even if they could easily buy other food.
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the video mentioned that very thing. So there are (3) problems: First, there are food deserts which cause people to eat unhealthy foods. Second, when there are grocery stores there, they lose money. Third, the customers in those neighborhoods won’t buy healthy food anyway because of taste preferences.

How does this get solved?
 
Taste preference gets solved by tasting new things repeatedly. It’s the same thing parents are told with picky eaters. When you’re around government-subsidized fast food all of the time, which includes the inevitable side soda, it gets addictive.

Also, there’s something to be said about the process and effort of growing your own food. When I started gardening, I wanted to eat what I grew. A garden tomato tastes much different than one from Kroger.
 
But as a parent, I can make my kids try new things. How does the process work with adults in those communities?
 
I don’t know. But in some communities, it’s working, as detailed in the Ted Talk I posted above.

I can only speculate, but it could be the pride that comes from putting your own labor into producing the food.
 
KMC said:
that there is no market demand for healthy foods…they don’t have a taste preference for it.
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I guess so.

Usually the the kids with the weight problems also have parents who also have weight problems.
They’re not being brought up with healthy eating habits and they’re not taught to eat properly either.
 
Yes

These adults in turn teach their children to also eat unhealthy.
 
How does it get solved? Economic prosperity for all – as people get more educated / higher socio-economic class, their taste and health improves. Individuals have to decide “I’m going to do better” – whether that means education, job, personal health / choices.
It’s a 20 year process probably.
 
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I’m not sure that’s right. Ever pay close attention to German cooking? It’s “poverty food” too. Sparing on the meat, with a lot of makeweight and spice to improve the attractiveness of things like sausage. Who but Germans are crazy about head cheese and liver pudding and potato pancakes? Sauerkraut is the sort of thing a person puts away for the winter as a substitute for better vegetables. French cooking is a lot more costly. But France has a lot of very good land and a terrific climate (for Europe), whereas Germany doesn’t.

So how do you get Germans to stop eating potato pancakes and sausages and sauerkraut with bacon and adopt a “Mediterranean diet”? I’m not sure one can. Well, I’m not too sure a “Med diet” is necessarily best for everyone anyway.

(And how to get them to stop eating Sachertorte mit schlag? I don’t think there is a calculator on earth that could count up the calories in that.)
 
Is that a picture of Cardinal Glennon? My wife’s great aunt worked as his housekeeper when he was bishop of Indianapolis. She could barely speak English, but it worked. He gave her a sizeable silver cross with inlays of the basilicas of Rome, which we still have.
 
Not a picture of Cardinal Glennon.

My username is a tribute to +Bishop Glennon P. Flavin, who led the Diocese of Lincoln from 1967 until 1992. He was a native of St. Louis and was named for Cardinal Glennon.

That’s a great story about the gift to your great aunt!
 
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I live in a town of about 70,000. I am lucky enough to be within walking distance of a Krogers. In the ‘projects’ there was a full service grocery, but it had to close. Too much crime and shoplifting. There is a Dollar General store there now.
 
Ridgerunner said:
Sachertorte mit schlag
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To the previous discussion of home economics and shop being taught in schools, we had to take a semester of each in high school. Cooking and sewing for home ec and shop including using power tools and both wood and metal crafting…for both sexes!

My grandson is in HS now and is currently taking a cooking class. He absolutely loves it and they can eat what they learn to cook. I think it’s a mandatory class. Shop is offered but I think it’s an elective. I think many schools are bringing these classes back as it’s pretty pathetic when someone doesn’t even know how to boil water! 😱

So, there’s hope! I’d ask the local school board if these classes are offered and if not, highly suggest they are needed. Most kids are going to live alone or with roommates before they marry. They also need to learn how to operate a washing machine, dryer and vacuum cleaner but I place that responsibility on the parents!

I also realize most parent these days are so rushed to get dinner on the table that they don’t have the time and patience to include instructing their children while they cook but one meal on the weekend can certainly be an instruction time meal! I’ve discovered my grandkids love mashing potatoes, tenderizing meat (with the meat hammer) and of course, mixing cookie dough where fingers often have to be cleaned from “accidental” slips into the dough…really, a little raw dough won’t kill them!
 
Poverty food becoming popular plates. One can find that in a lot of places and that is not limited to Europe or the US. Some of the most famous dishes in Chinese culture originated in times of famine. Bird’s nest soup, anyone? It’s now an expensive delicacy, but its origins are considerably more modest.

But having been to Germany, the sausages there were something else entirely. That was fun watching the locals go after plates of sausages like they were fries and crackers.
 
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