10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS FOOD ACCESS DECEMBER 1, 2023 Left: Julius Buzzard, director of Growing Hope Urban Farm and Argus staff member Alexandra Granberg during Argus Food Talks. Middle: (pictured left to right) Laurin Wolfe, Director, Conner Levy, Vice President, Beverly Ruesink, Needle-Lane Farms, Susan Randall, President. Photo Credit: Patrick Zabawa, Treasurer. Right: Photo of Ruesink with son, Baszyl, 12, in the background on a video monitor. Ruesink also has a daughter, Stella, 6. Improve your health, support local business Would you rather spend money on medical bills or better food? Currently, an astounding 41.9% of American adults, 29.5% of adults over 65 and 19.7% of children at all income levels are obese, according to Trust for America’s Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Congressman David Schweikert, (R-AZ), co-chair of the Joint Economic Committee, details in the Republican section of the 2023 JEC's response to the 2023 Economic Report of the President how obesity and obesity-related diseases will contribute $5.6 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. Obesity is one of the largest contributors to Medicare and Medicaid spending. The entire JEC Report is at: www.jec.senate.gov/ One of the things that the Federal government is considering is removing junk food, especially soda pop, from food stamp benefits. This is comparable to government efforts to shift U.S. culture away from smoking in the 1960s. According to Schweikert, this could enhance the health of Americans, reduce income inequality and help the Federal budget. "I don't think people wake up every day and say, "I'm only going to spend my SNAP Benefits on junk food," said Claire Austin, who co-manages the Ypsilanti Farmers Market with Vivi Nguyen. "The big issue is access. This is part of the reason why we have Farmers Markets. It definitely contributes to a healthy community." Obesity has been found to substantially reduce lifespan, with life JANE REILLY Groundcover vendor No. 611 Planning to grow, shop for and prepare food requires a commitment to a lifestyle change of budgeting both time and money. The price difference for apples between the national grocery chains and a regional chain is about 89 cents on sale and $2.20 not on sale. The difference between the national and regional "open the cafe in a lively manner on the weekends," said Connor Levy, PFC Vice-President and Chairman of the Community Engagement Committee. The PFC has reported net operating losses of $197,026 in the first half of 2023 and Ruesink expressed concern about the future of local farming. chains and Washtenaw expectancy decreasing as Body Mass Index increases. Obesity is a causal risk factor for many other diseases, including but not limited to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke, sleep apnea and cancer. One out of every three heart attack or stroke deaths and one in twelve cancer deaths are associated with being overweight. Obesity has also been linked to impaired mental health, according to the JEC report. "Much of the direct benefit of increased lifespan would go to women, as well as Black and low-income adults," states the JEC report. "Research by Zachary J. Ward et al. suggests that Class 3 obesity, the highest, will be the most common Body Mass Index category for these three demographic groups by 2030. Because reducing obesity carries with it employment, productivity, and income benefits, it might also contribute to reducing health. income inequality." Food is now an investment in our County stores that sell apples from local farms can be as much as $2.10$7.50. The quality of taste and freshness increase substantially with the price increase. Organically grown foods have an intense flavor. Vegetables have no saturated fat, cholesterol or added sugar. The United States Department of Agriculture announced on Nov. 14 that the Ann Arbor Fair Food Network received a grant of $8,438,060 to continue SNAP Double Up Bucks through 2025. It is estimated that in 2023 obesity will cause $5,155 in average excess medical costs per person per year based on research by JEC economists. Heart attack patients in Michigan paid $25,679 in 2019 according to Sidecar Health and $58,779 for bypass surgery. For uninsured patients, the median cost of hospital care following a heart attack was $53,384 in 2017, according to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "We are what we eat," said Beverly - Ruesink, 45, owner of Needle-Lane Farms, 6376 Tipton Hwy, Tipton, MI. "It's really that easy." Ruesink spoke at "Meet Your Farmer," an event at the People's Food Co-op in Ann Arbor on Nov. 5, to "It's a struggle and it's real," Ruesink said. "The change in our society where we work at home and have things delivered has changed the game. There's no cheap, easy way. It's hard work and who wants to work hard?" Both Argus Farm Stop and the PFC hold community events to draw customers. There is an Annual Winter Artisan Market on Sat. Dec 2 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Argus Packard Cafe, which lists its weekly events for three locations on the website. The Ypsilanti Winter Indoor Farmers Market, at the Market Place Hall (behind the building with the Farmers Market marquee), featured live music on Nov. 18. A keyboardist was one of 20 vendors including farmers, bakers, prepared food and oracle readings. "We want to implement changes to try and reach a wider area of Ypsilanti," Austin said. "We want to bring in more community members. We want to feel more community owned and community grown." Ruesink is practical about the community's financial involvement and investment. "The problem is people have to go to work, then they have to take their see HEALTH next page
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