Dear Friends,
As I get ready to launch fund-raising efforts for The Green Rocket I describe two main areas of focus: Energy/Transportation and Food/Nutrition. Friends who don’t live in the South are questioning the seeming incongruity of the two concepts. I’ll try to explain.
Poverty in the Mid-South drives everything. It’s a region that desperately needs jobs. It’s also the region where the “energy funnel” narrows on its way to Gulf Coast refineries. Energy, transportation and related businesses are the fastest growing employers. While the infrastructure is stressed and the risks from shale and tar sands oils are severe, people line up for those jobs. It’s also the region with the highest rates of poverty, obesity and food stress. Southern cooking has never been known for its health benefits. Those without jobs are likely living in, or near, a food desert whether they live in the city, or out on the Delta. Nutrition is not on their radar. Their diet is largely shaped by convenience store fare.
Does that link poverty to energy to nutrition? Thoughtful responses are more than welcome, snarkiness promptly returned. >right here
