Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

By: Avery Tanksley

     I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. Normally when this phrase is recited it is with mental application in mind but in this instance I want to use it in the physical aspect. As a native North Philadelphia I have seen a lot of changes in the landscape of my neighborhood from abandoned houses to abandoned factories. Things which hurt me the most are the health the majority of my neighbors are in and the outlet of food sources available to us to eat from. As I grow older and older I see more fast food restaurants, corner stores, liquor stores, gas station convenience store, and mega bargain stores (ex. Wal-Mart) popping up everywhere. I remember a time when I use to help my great grandmother, Lucy Inez Murray, wash off the collard greens and break off the ends of string beans that she bought at the local produce market to prepare for the nightly dinner. Those days are long gone or I can say rapidly fading away like a Dirk Nowitzski jump shot.

            Don’t get me wrong I know days are different where now time is money but if we don’t take the time to also feed ourselves properly we won’t have time to spend the money we work so hard to make. I don’t have an easy answer to solve this issue but I do know of one major contributing factor that has exacerbated issue, single parent homes. It’s hard when mothers, fathers too, have to come home to a “second shift” when they are already dog tired from working the job of which they are paid actual money. The children get caught in the middle because all we know is “I’m hungry, so let’s eat.” We don’t know how to cook, where the food comes from, or even sometimes why there is no food. So in turn what happens is the parent may grab something on the way in for the house to eat or just order out to save even more time.

            With broken homes not disappearing no time soon I think a more feasible solution would be for local legislation to step in and put rules around the free enterprise practice for food businesses. I think that franchises are abusing the system by putting up businesses (like the ones I listed earlier) wherever the law will let them regardless of who the victim will be. More often victim is usually poor. If unhealthy food wasn’t so readily available we would have no other choice but to find other means to feed ourselves which more than likely will be the old fashioned ways of home cooking. At every BSO (Broad Street Orange Line) train stop from Spring Garden to Olney there is a fast food spot smack in your face as you come up the steps to the surface level. With its bright lights, cheap prices, and sweet smells it is hard to resist for the poor communities to resist the temptation.   

            As I said earlier, I know it isn’t easy but is it possible to change the diets in our areas with some effort. Become aware of the problem and stop ignoring it. Hold people in public office accountable for letting these thing occur. Most importantly for ourselves we need to get from in front our electronic devices and begin to exercise again.