You do know how many times Wal-Mart has been sued for failing to pay its workers overtime/unaided work time/too few hours per week to qualify for any benefits. It is often an un-written rule at Wal-Mart’s to only allow people to work 28.5 hours a week so that they dont have to give any workers (other then management) any sort of benefits. But dont let some of the facts get in your way of Wal-Mart love.

As far as a food co-op, good luck. I had a friend who in college was a big liberal idealist and Food Not Bombs member. He actively tried to work with the inner city communities to set up co-ops and such but they had no interest or more importantly, they didn’t want to work at bettering their situation and community. While he didn’t turn into a big conservative (he’s too smart for that), he got more than a little disillusioned. If these people don’t want to take care of themselves, fine, but don’t expect a handout to subsidize your shitty lifestyle.

I actually remember a time when there was a hardware store, and a grocery, and a outdoor goods store, a furniture store, a haberdasher, a shoe store, and craft store, and all of the other small businesses a wal-mart replaces.

Blaming Wal-mart for the collapse of haberdashery is a bit rich.

Those proprietors worked hard and had a place in society.

Wal-mart employees work hard and have a place in society.

Maybe its worthwhile to pay more for goods and support your real community!

Maybe it’s not worthwhile to pay more for goods out of a sense of nostalgia.

After all, sales tax doesn’t help pay a working mans wage.

Wal-mart pays their employees, you know. In fact, I’d bet that Wal-mart pays better and offers more benefits than the mom and pop store it replaced.

Here in San Antonio there are a few major structural problems for folks in the slums.

1) They lack transit and the public transit here sucks. In the impoverished areas of town it can take over two hours one way to the nearest decent grocery. Do you have five hours to spend grocery shopping? I don’t. There are some neighborhood bodegas and things, but that kind of leads us into

2) The food culture isn’t particularly healthy here, especially in low-income areas. A lot of tex-mex really is delicious, but is also extremely calorie dense. It’s the same food people have been cooking and eating for generations, rice and beans go a long way. That kind of thing isn’t an issue when you’re doing physical labor, but when you’re mostly sedantary you’re going to get fat. And fresh fruits/vegetables aren’t on the radar for some folks in those areas of town.

3) In addition, a lot of folks in those neighborhoods don’t have much of an idea what to do with fresh fruits and vegetables. No idea how to cook them, no idea that they can be good. That kind of thing is a new introduction to their diet – remember the first time you ate, say, Indian food? Did you look at the menu and try to guess what things were? If you’re a naturally adventurous eater it was probably not too bad, but if (like me) you’ve had to work up to adventurous eating over the years then it might’ve been kind of scary. Fresh vegetables are that way to some people.

4) As a result, the groceries in those neighborhoods often carry lower quality produce. HEB is the only grocery game in town other than the Wal-Mart and Target super centers so they can get away with it. Some med students I know were pretty shocked to find a paltry selection of moldy and rotting fuits, so was I. It’s not really a conspiracy (if they don’t think it’ll sell, why would the HEB stock their quality produce there?) but it is a problem. Further, Wal-Mart and Target are often a long way out of those neighborhoods so see #1.

That combination of factors along with social pressures not to change (from their neighbors and friends) can make it pretty difficult for folks in low-income areas to improve their health. The health science center here is working with Good Samaritan in the neighborhood to start the process of changing some of those things, but it takes awhile. In the mean time, the folks in the neighborhood keep eating at the Malt House where you can get a burger, fries and a tea for $2.95.

Really, Radley!!

I looked at that map you supplied and Fostoria is at least 10 or 15 miles from the nearest Walmart. How do you expect these women to get to that Walmart to get their groceries? On the grand scheme of things it is fairly close, but not if you don’t have a car or public transportation.

What they really should do is start a food coop. Grow food in a coop garden with some other people. Or see if they can carpool with others to Walmart once a week. Did you know you can buy seeds for a garden with food stamps? These women need the exercise anyway. Gardening is great exercise. Not only that it would get them doing something and make them feel productive. Lots of times when people are stuck in bad situations it is hard for them to feel like they have any control over their lives and this would be a great way for them to be able to have some kind of control.

That this is how “real” people think and operate. If NPR looked harder, they could’ve probably found more sympathetic characters; skinnier, better sob story, a more polished speaker, etc… and then slapped some vaseline on the lens and gone for the heartstrings like a Diane Sawyer (“today’s Diane Sawyer she gets high* on you, personal space she’ll invade then she’ll cry on you”). Yeah they’re flawed, but they’re as good an illustration as any of the “starving obese”.

WalMart may be a viable option for people in suburban or rural areas who have a vehicle, but they’re almost never in a city or near public transportation around here.

*ratings

Perhaps the point they make is that some folks at NPR are clueless? Or that they are so bleeding-hearted they can’t get beyond it?

On the other hand… I can see how it may be difficult to find a job. I’m highly qualified, with plenty off good recommendations, and it took me over 2 months to find a job after I got laid off of the last one. (Totally unheard of for me!) It’s tough out there right now.

“A lot of people have told me, ‘Why don’t your daughter have a kid?’”

That pretty much sums up the problem with welfare, it doesn’t just help people who’ve made mistakes or fallen on hard times, it CAUSES people to make “mistakes”.

If NPR wants me to feel sorry for a fellow Ohioan who cannot cope with rising costs, it would be better the profiled people have actually TRIED to support themselves over the years, and not been on govt assistance.

This isn’t a sad story of poverty… it is a PSA on the result of being un/under-educated, fat and lazy.

As for Wal-Mart, I’m not reflexively a hater (I used to love the place) but I got to say that once all the smaller shops and businesses are gone, you start to realize just how poor its selection really is in many cases. It’s like the old Onion article: “Coke discontinues all drink sizes except 32 gallon size. Says spokesman: ‘Sure it’s inconvienant for the customer, but what are they going to do, not drink Coke? Right.’ ”

As for NPR and PBS, I admit to seeing a bias, but it is no where near as bad as the bias I see on the big news networks. I find much of its programming superior to most anything on CNN, fox, or the major networks. Would a completely free market PBS/NPR be as good or better? Well, that’s the theory, but the aforementioned networks don’t fill me with hope.

I know that in many cities this may be much more difficult. I have the benefit of living in Wisconsin, our farmers markets are great and you can get huge deals compared to the grocery. And it’s not inconvenient. Also you’re helping out one of the few farmers left that isnt growing shitty-ass corn for a govt subsidy.

Wal-Mart pisses me off. No matter what i cant see them as the good guy. I actually remember a time when there was a hardware store, and a grocery, and a outdoor goods store, a furniture store, a haberdasher, a shoe store, and craft store, and all of the other small businesses a wal-mart replaces. Those proprietors worked hard and had a place in society. Maybe its worthwhile to pay more for goods and support your real community! After all, sales tax doesn’t help pay a working mans wage.

But I must admit that I frequent them from the day they open. Better produce, spending locally, nice people, and no cheeseball music. :)