Reason Writers Around Town: Radley Balko on Walmart, Health, and Obesity at The Daily Beast

Most people associate Wal-Mart with large women in stretch pants, fat kids sucking down tubs of soda, and morbidly obese men inching down the snack-food aisle in motorized shopping carts. But writing at The Daily Beast, Reason senior editor Radley Balko points to some new research showing that not only does Wal-Mart save low-income people money, it may make them healthier, too.

Read all about it here. 

Comments

[The Last Thrice-Sayer]

You forgot the brown stains on the back of their pants.

[Jaybird]

They're all on oxygen too!

[Marc]

Let's see if you can guess what I am...

"blah blah Chinese crap blah blah SUVs blah blah McMansions blah blah"

I'm a zit!

[Joe From Low Hell]

Don't know about Wal-Mart, but every time I go into Whole Foods it smells like a-hole.

[JP]

I think chubby is becoming the new normal. (I say that simply as a socio-cultural observation.)

1. I was at a college graduation last week, and I have to say there really did seem to be a lot of fat students among the grads. Many more than I remember from my college days in the late 70s.

2. Have you ever been to a Red Robin hamburger joint? The bench-to-table distance in the booths must be 3-4 inches greater than in restaurants of yore. And they serve not bottomless cups of coffee but bottomless cornucopias of french fries. The place is designed to accommodate the new, big American.

[Episiarch]

I think chubby is becoming the new normal.

I think it depends where you are. There are not many fat people here in Seattle, for instance. At least not that I've seen.

[JP]

Well, sure, Seattle. You have all those healthy types out there.

[Seattle]

There are not many fat people here in Seattle, for instance. At least not that I've seen.

Meth,heroin......

[Seattle]

"Meth,heroin......"

leftists, control freaks, democrats...

[SugarFree]

Most people associate Wal-Mart with large women in stretch pants, fat kids sucking down tubs of soda, and morbidly obese men inching down the snack-food aisle in motorized shopping carts.

I had no idea I was most people. Imagine that.

The best thing about Wal-Mart is that it sucks so much it motivates people to work harder in order to make money so that they don't have to shop in Wal-Mart any longer. The new American dream comes from gazing longingly from the parking lot at the bright, clean aisles of a Target and thinking "Someday."

[sage]

Hey Epi, what part of Seattle? I'm west of the Sound...there are plenty of fatties over here, but there are also like thirteen indian reservations.

[John Thacker]

The article was pretty good Radley, I read it a few days ago when it came about.

I was amused but saddened that the comments over at The Daily Beast ran the gamut of stupid reactions across the spectrum, and most gave the impression of having read only the headline and maybe the subhead. That was just in the four posted at the time I read it.

[Art-P.O.G.]

[Red Robin restaurants] serve not bottomless cups of coffee but bottomless cornucopias of french fries

I knew something was wrong when I couldn't finish my first serving of fries inside half an hour.

[ed]

Most people associate Wal-Mart with...

A half-hour wait in the $4 prescription line behind a herd of four-foot-tall octogenarians.

[Tbone]

I used to think I was fat, then I went to a water park in Wisconsin Dells. I am a Greek God.

p.s., on the cost/quality scale it's Target by a mile. And give me crisp, shiny GM and pesticide infused produce anytime. The shelf life on Whole Foods stuff is poor for the price you pay.

[sage]

Most people associate Wal-Mart with...

Customers that you can smell long before you can see them.

[R C Dean]

Have you ever been to a Red Robin hamburger joint?

This weekend, for the first time. The highest ration of morbidly obese per capita that I have ever encountered.

The food was OK.