[Erin]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Is this a New York thing? Why go to an endo in Jersey rather than New York? I don't understand?

I wasn't being sarcastic about the Patriot Act. I knew it gave many powers. How many, obviously I wasn't aware of that...

As far as food and eating better, I truly believe that anyone can do that. Whether you live in a middle class, lower class, or upper class neighborhood. All neighborhoods have grocery stores that sell fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. It is your duty, as a responsible person, to learn how to deal with your diabetes. Part of that includes learning how to take these raw ingredients from the store that you buy and put them together into healthy diabetic meals and eat them in the appropriate portions at the correct times. Your race or nationality does not come into play with this respect.

The Jersey thing is quite simple to understand. I grew up in Jersey, I like my endo, I'd rather commute a bit every couple of months than deal with switching. Now that this legislation has come into play, which only effects residents of New York City, I might NEVER switch.

About the food. Your reaction is normal, but it's really not as easy as all that. I have lived in some of the lower income neighborhoods here, and worked in others, and heath code legislation very rarely comes into play. The more affordable and conveniently located grocery stores have produce that will cause more harm than good if actually eaten. I'm talking about food that is LITERALLY rotting on the shelves. Supermarkets that smell like meat that's gone off. Bodegas and corner grocery stores that have plantains, potatos, and apples, and not much else that doesn't come in a box or a can. The nicer stores with produce that looks edible are more expensive, sometimes prohibitively expensive, depending on your income. It's go canned or go frozen or go home. (well that or take your chances with produce you bought from a guy off of a cart on the street... which is either really awesome or really awful) I know, because I went for a YEAR at one point without purchasing a fresh vegetable in my neighborhood. And that was from the standpoint of self preservation. I would go to my parents house every couple of months and gorge myself on greens, and once in a while I'd trek down to Chinatown and stock up on veggies and tofu.

I'm not saying race and ethnicity excuse you from eating well, I'm just saying it would be easier for people of non European decent to follow a meal plan, if the meal plan incorporated the foods they were used to eating. I love all kinds of food, but do you know how long it took me to figure out how to bolus for empanadas or fried plantains? I wasn't able to find ANY resources about those foods. (well, I didn't look that hard, but it should be easy!) Let alone sushi or pad thai (which got purchased when I got my $ more in check).

And don't get me started on take out. NYC is a city constantly in motion, and as such MOST of its residents eat at least 5 meals outside of their home every week (some eat ALL of their meals outside of the home). In the richer areas there are soup / salad / sandwich shops on every corner. In the porer areas it's pizza joints, McDonalds, and KFC. The society is setting up lower income people to have poor health. They have less access to medical care (ever go to a clinic in NY? you're more likely to GET sick than get healed, and the wait is prohibitive to people who work for a living) less access to quality food, and less access to the information that they need to make Diabetes work within their world. I was fortunate. I got the BEST diabetes education possible and learned a lot about food and nutrition, before trying to move to NY.

You know what Sinatra said about new york? If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere? He wasn't kidding. It's a hard place to survive if you're not rich. Sometimes the only thought that gets you through the day is... if I moved ANYWHERE else, life would be easier. (and don't say well if you moved to a village in Kenya life would be harder. If I moved to a village in Kenya I'd be the equivalent of a millionaire, and I can barely make rent here)