(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine finds that "Low-income people’s diets have gotten worse over the past decade as richer people’s nutrition has been improving."
So here we have yet another bad result from the soaring income & wealth inequality that trickle-down economics has inflicted on us for the past 30+ years (see, e.g., "Study Says America's Income Gap Widest Since Great Depression"). Over the past several years--as we have watched corporate profits rise--we have seen median household income drop, the middle-class shrink, the American Dream become a myth, and our nutritional needs remain unfulfilled.
(The description for this photo reads, "Three WPA gardening projects in Denver, Pueblo and Greeley will produce
approximately 665 tons of vegetables for distribution to indigent
families receiving direct relief. A million cans of vegetables grown and
processed by WPA workers will be distributed in these three cities
under the supervision of the State Department of Public Welfare and
county government.
Shot shows beans being shelled." Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)
During the New Deal, policymakers worked very hard to address the nutritional needs of all Americans. There was a WPA school lunch program; young men in the CCC were well-fed; there was a surplus commodities program to deliver food to those in need; community gardening programs were set up so that people could get more fresh fruits & vegetables; thousands of miles of new water lines were installed, along with hundreds of thousands of consumer water connections; farm-to-market roads were created to bring fresh farm goods to more Americans; and much, much more.
Our diets today could really use a New Deal.
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