Questions, Questions, Everywhere

I am really swimming in them now, let me tell you. Of course I knew the social justice of food equality and access, the constraints of living on a food stamp budget, and receiving government assistance was nothing if not excruciatingly complex.

That's probably why I am interested in the first place: I was always better at the harder math problems in school. The easier ones eluded me.

So let me just drop some of these questions on "paper" and then I will clean it up with the two main research questions I am going to use to guide the first part of this project; as we call them in academia, RQ1 and RQ2. So official.

Coming from a communication persepective, I am quite simply interested in what is being communicated in terms of nutrition, healthy eating, and wellness to the citizens of Milwaukee county. What is available? What is available without Internet access, assuming many people on public assistance programs may not have Internet access at home, and may not be computer literate anyway? Are there piles of dusty pamphlets in a corner that no one takes, or are resources readily provided on health shopping, cooking, and eating?

If newsletters or pamphlets are available, are they written for their audience? One study found that women on a food stamp program  devoured the information provided to them, especially recipes, but were 'turned off' to language that was not in their vernacular and went unexplained in the passage.

I think we are ready to wrap this all up with one big question. Here it is (no drum roll necessary)...

RQ1: What information is provided to people on food stamps in terms of nutrition, and stretching their food stamp dollar to its healthiest potential in Milwaukee?

Here comes another one of those 'buts': All of the information on meal planning and more nutritious diets in the world is totally useless if people do not have access to healthy food. Health communication can open someone's eyes to choices that will make them feel better, live better, and change their behavior.

All great stuff, but it cannot make up for a lack of resources and it cannot magically make apples and whole grain bread appear on store shelves. Research on neighborhood grocery stores, ‘food deserts,’ and the social justice issue of equitable food availability requires me to ask...

RQ2: What kinds of food are available at the small grocery stores that accept food stamps in Milwaukee? 

Another way to ask this question, and some great research has done this, is What is the ratio of healthy to unhealthy food in a neighborhood's grocery stores?

A whole slue of other questions pertain to the issue of information and food access in America and continue to be heavily researched and hotly debated: do people in lower income neighborhoods pay more for food? Is 'junk food' really cheaper than healthier food? What is healthy and unhealthy food, anyway? Should the government define these terms?

They don't, by the way. At least not right now. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) explains why they cannot (will not?) define healthy and unhealthy food, especially in terms of restricting food stamp purchases. We will be returning to this issue, for sure.

Time to go exploring--almost. Next step will be to set up a plan for making my observations, selecting locations, and probably asking some more questions.

All for now.