Dalton - Blog Post 3

Dear Senator Cortez,

            My name is Dalton Taylor a college student at University of Nevada - Reno. Healthy food is not cheap, anywhere and on a college budget I cannot buy much of it. A bag of Lay’s potato chip or a soda I can buy on an extremely tight budget. I have always been told by my parents,coaches, teachers, and mentors to eat healthy. That everyday I should have 3 serving of fruits, 3 servings of vegetables, complex carbs, and lots of protein. However, I do not understand how I am suppose to provide with purchasing healthy wholesome food when for the same price for a bag of apples I can get a box of frozen pizzas.

            The businesses in the area around my university do not help eating healthier either. The private businesses within the outer perimeter of my college include a multitude of bars, many restaurants, and a couple of gas stations. Nothing really screams, speaks, or even whispers “healthy eat and shopping come here”. The food that is sold at these institutions is cheap but gas station food is supper unhealthy and no person/family can live off of dollar Big Macs for forever.

            As well, there are no grocery within walking distance of campus. The university does provide a shuttle service a few hours over the weekend for students to go to Walmart. However, healthy groceries are costly on a any budget especially one that is low budget.

            My grandparents inherited a farm from my great grandparents and fruit that was ediable was left behind all of the time because it did not meet the sells standards. As well I have read articles and news reports of how grocery stores just throw perfectly good food because the food has past a sell by date. Why do these grocery stores not donate this food that is good to eat and nutritious to food banks or colleges for people to eat?

            So much healthy food is wasted across the United States that is costly for people on tight budgets to purchase. The food is going to be throw away any. So Senator why isn’t this food either being lowered in price or being donate to food banks or programs at colleges? I grew up in a poorer income area and saw that families could not buy fruits and veggies all of the time because they could not afford it. And doing so people got sick a lot and some of my classmates were very malnourished. The school cafeteria was the only place some of my friends could get edible vegetables and half decent fruit. Seeing my friends and their families go through that and seeing my friends go through college and not be able to get wholesome food is honestly unacceptable because so much is being wasted. Fruits, vegetables, meat, and other healthy food is just to expensive, and I can see where families are turning towards fast food because it is cheap. But no one can live on fast food forever and eat out all of the time. The price for natural food needs to be lowered to save the human race.

Sincerely,

Dalton Taylor