As gasoline prices rise, questions about how people shop for groceries will increase. But for working-class and poorer neighborhoods, convenient access to reasonably priced, healthy foods has been a concern for too long.
More of us are starting to pay attention. That can make a big difference if the awareness is translated into action through the Seattle City Council's promising adoption of a food initiative, the proposals for a city-King County food policy council and community efforts.
As a Seattle P-I story reported Thursday, many neighborhoods have no access to a grocery store within a 30-minute bus ride. Schlepping a week's worth of groceries on a bus or a long walk is a huge chore, if not impossible. In poorer neighborhoods, the only option may be a convenience store, where the highly processed food products' calories dwarf other nutritional content.
A key context for all this is the preaching of King County Executive Ron Sims on the scandalous ties between income and place of residence, health, safety and public services such as transit. You can't be healthy if your medical care is inferior and your access to good nutrition is theoretical.
But smart policies, community action and private enterprise can make a difference. Universities' studies can show grocers untapped opportunities. Communities can organize to support healthier options and create buying co-ops. Grocers' delivery services might offer weekly specials to underserved neighborhoods. But it will take planning.
To see more of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, for online features, or to subscribe, go to http://seattlep-I.com.
??? 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All Rights Reserved.