Cities move to ban dollar stores, blaming them for residents’ poor diets
There are no such things as &#x27;food deserts&#x27; and the healthiest food is in fact the cheapest: it&#x27;s in the produce section.<p>Kale and organic bananas are more expensive, but most veggies are ridiculously cheap. Meat on sale is not so bad.<p><i>Processed</i> food is more expensive.<p>&quot;“We can statistically conclude that the effect on healthy eating from opening new supermarkets was negligible at best,”<p>So people given a choice don&#x27;t eat healthy? How is this news?<p>The poor are more likely to smoke as well - and that&#x27;s expensive.<p>But the Dollar Store and Wallmart are giving vast, vast surpluses in wealth to the poor by offering them really cheap, off brand stuff that&#x27;s pretty much as good as the branded stuff.<p>They might be contributing to the material wealth of the poor more than any other thing.<p>If they didn&#x27;t exist we&#x27;d be thinking: &#x27;Stuff is cheap to make, we pay so much for &#x27;brand&#x27; - how can we get inexpensive every day items to the poor&#x27;? Well, that&#x27;s called the Dollar Store.<p>Maybe we can spend more time teaching kids to cook <i>basic</i> meals in school? I don&#x27;t know the answer but these do-gooders I feel are barking up the wrong tree.