Open Thread

thanks snappy.

wow this scares me from reading the website…

***
In New York City, one of the richest cities in the world, food poverty is around every corner. Throughout the five boroughs, approximately 1.3 million people — largely comprised of women, children, seniors, the working poor and people with disabilities — rely on soup kitchens and food pantries. In addition, the number of New Yorkers experiencing difficulty affording food for themselves and their families has doubled to approximately four million since 2003.
Food poverty in New York City results from problems affording or accessing needed food. Low-income New Yorkers often have to make choices between providing enough food for themselves or their families and paying the month’s rent or utility bills. With food prices steadily rising, difficulty affording groceries among New Yorkers with already stretched budgets has reached crisis levels. The steadily rising cost of living is also being felt by middle-income New Yorkers, who are increasingly experiencing difficulty affording food. Meanwhile, a number of financial pressures — including health issues, health insurance issues and low wages — continue to affect New Yorkers with low to moderate incomes.

In addition to financial problems, low-income neighborhoods throughout New York City are characterized by a lack of affordable, nutritious food. Add to that equation chronically stretched budgets and the prevalence of low-cost, low-quality food and it is easy to understand the challenges of leading a truly healthy lifestyle in many neighborhoods — which lead to high concentrations of diet-related conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension
***
still no mention of where to get the foof tho

*rob*

“Good luck NYC btw… by raising the stupid taxes on cigarettes and making them 10 bux a pack …. you are shooting yourself in the foot.”

Rob, I think it is working, they want you to quit:

“Tax increases are the single most effective way to help smokers quit. When New York State’s cigarette tax rose by $1.25 per pack last year (from $1.50 to $2.75), the jolt prompted more than 2,700 calls to 311 for help to quit over the course of one week – three times the number of calls during the same period in the prior year. New York City has 300,000 fewer adult smokers today than in 2002 – thanks in part to price increases – and smoking has dropped 52 percent among public high school students since 2001.”

http://www.emaxhealth.com/2/58/30215/nyc-cigarette-prices-will-top-9.html

ugh. the main food pantry non profit organization in new york i googled. lovely how they dont mention HOW to get the food but only toot their own horns what a great organization they are :-/

i am so going to dean and deluca at lunch today and raiding their free samples like a maniac. that sounds so ridiculous i know.

this city is SO f’ed up.

*rob*

SNAPPY:

If you still have those nicotine patches i want them. I called 311 yesterday to get mine and they said they will be delivered in 2-3 weeks. that is too long. I actually NEED to stop smoking ASAP for various reasons. I have enough smokes to last me til thursday morning but i don’t get paid til monday :-/ and im googling food pantries to get free food. if ever someone wakes up and realizes a stupid nasty smelly addiction is making them live in poverty it’s this. Good luck NYC btw… by raising the stupid taxes on cigarettes and making them 10 bux a pack (btw i have a black market dealer who sells me them for 7 but even at 7 im struggling) you are shooting yourself in the foot. Nice way to implement a poor tax. Nice way to make someone want to rob someone for a damn Newport.

I’ve officially had enough. I didn’t even touch my first cigarette until i was 22. TWENTY TWO! i was against cigarettes and alcohol, etc, everything. i was hardcore straightedge for the first 21 years of my life. what kind of idiot starts smoking at 22? so now it’s been 10 years and i am convinced i have lung cancer (my grandfather and mother died of it), and im terrified to go to the doctor until i quit officially. I’ve noticed that doctors in general are nasty when you tell them you are a smoker.

I was afraid of quitting smoking since all of my friends smoke and my roommate and his boyfriend smoke all the time in the apartment, but i think im at the point where im like whatever smoke as much as you want i dont want that anymore.

im afraid of getting fatter tho 🙁

*rob*