When you're #1 in all the top categories, you want to ensure that you remain on top. Why do anything that might make you slip to #2?
You get the impression this is the motivation for Mississippi to pass the anti-Bloomberg bill, a local government can't pass any laws that would post calorie counts or cap portion sizes.
This was similar to Tennessee wanting to make laws banning any Sharia law. Chances of a city in Mississippi passing a "Bloomberg law" is about as much as Tennessee adopting Sharia law: none.
Mississippi hits the top of the charts in worst state from a health and economic standpoint. "A Place at the Table" documentary pointed out that the state is tops in food insecurity and highest obesity levels.
No one cares which state is #2, just #1. And the #1 state is Mississippi.
In "A Place at the Table," we meet Tremonica, a 2nd grade girl in Jonestown, Mississippi who suffers from asthma and obesity.
Jonestown has three grocery stores, but they don't fit in what most Americans would consider a full grocery store. You might find bananas as the only fresh fruit, but no fresh vegetables. Tremonica's mom drives 45 minutes to Clarksville or Batesville to find fresh vegetables. The movie pointed out that the 66-mile round trip cost her $10.68 in gas. That is well beyond a food desert.
For all the complaints of "nanny state" and "overreaching," Mississippi doesn't do enough to help the health of its citizens. The South is known for having a distrust in government, and leads the United States in obesity. There is not a direct correlation between the two. Individual responsibility is a cry when they think the government might get in the way, and clearly in Mississippi and other Southern states, individual responsibility isn't in vogue.
The state could pass economic incentives for a full-service grocery store to locate in Jonestown. The city could make things easier to set up a farmers market so the townspeople can easily buy fresh vegetables. Neither action should offend the anti-government sensibility.
The film shows us individual responsibility in motion. Tremonica's teacher, diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, made time in her class to teach kids about different healthy foods so they would feel less intimidated. We see her showing honeydew melons to the kids.
This is individual responsibility that more people in Mississippi should adopt. Having a basic distrust in government is one issue; using that distrust as an excuse not to do anything is a cop-out. If you are "anti-government," then you have more responsibility, not less, to respond in a positive realm for yourself and your community.
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