I think the reason 1 in 3 kids are obese or overweight because of their resources. I feel the problem is in all of Brooklyn. The problem is, pretty much on every or every other street corner in Brooklyn you can find: a Chinese store, a pizza store, a Spanish food store or grocery store. But in rich communities or higher middle class communities usually in Manhattan or New Jersey etc: you can find a salad bar, a nice little restaurant, a Redlobster or anything in its restaurant industry, or maybe one grocery store. I feel the owners of all the stores in Brooklyn are smart. For instance, Burger King opened a franchise on the block of our school about 5 years back, they have always made money on Brooklynites and my schoolmates who have probably made them rich by now. There is a pizza store and a Chinese store and about three deli’s across the street from my school on different corners(of the 4).There is one common denominator they all take advantage of Brooklynites! They know that most, or some Brooklynites all around usually don’t have the money to go to a real good restaurant in Manhattan, or a real nice place to eat. So they go to places like Little Caesar’s where they sell a whole pie of pizza for 5 dollars or some McDonald’s etc. Now there is nothing wrong with eating these foods from time to time. But everyday!? That something that needs to be dealt with. Can you picture that, your mom may have lost her job but to keep you and your siblings not hungry she would feed you. But the thing is she would feed you only what you can afford. Eating from fast food restaurants two weeks straight can make some one out of shape. I am not surprised when i hear 40 to 35% of brooklynites are obiest or overweight.
The one thing i know is that when you dig yourself into a hole stop digging and get out. You always can no matter how deep you are. That’s what us Brooklynites need to do. Now I know that this problem is not just in Brooklyn it probably has a little of it in every major city and state. We should stop it, instead of selling greasy unhealthy food to people for cheap prices why not make something healthy for cheap prices. I can assure you that if every one of these fast food restaurants and stores, if they were to change. People would still buy from them, the only difference is it would make both sides of the table satisfied. A little exercise each day ad to top it off some fruit and salad. Boy would that be some big change.
To view photos of the mission trip to South Africa, please go to: http://angelrockproject.com/arp/pr/angel_buzz_jfc2.asp
Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service uplifts the lives of inner-city youth through global travel, volunteerism and advocacy work. More information on the program can be found at www.angelrockproject.com.
