Diabetic Takes MI Food Stamp Challenge
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Lansing, MI – The "Food Stamp Challenge" can be dangerous to your health. Thousands of Michiganians have been taking that challenge to learn what it's like to live on a food budget of about six dollars a day.
Maxine Thome, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers - Michigan Chapter, is a Type One diabetic who took the challenge. She says her blood sugar was so difficult to control that she had to break into a supply of sugar outside the Food Stamp budget when her blood levels dipped dangerously low.
"What happens to people who are diabetic, on Food Stamps, that don't have adequate access to health care? People must be dying."
Thome says Food Stamps play an important role in getting food on the table for families in Michigan, but there needs to be more focus on the quality of that food, especially for people with medical conditions.
"There isn't enough focus on the problems of insufficient access to nutrition and healthful foods."
Thome chronicled her health during the challenge and is sharing the information with the University of Michigan. They are currently doing a study about diabetic health for people using Food Stamps.
More information about the Food Stamp Challenge is available online at www.michigan.gov.
get more stories like this via email
Social Issues
Mississippi prisons often lack resources to treat people who are incarcerated with substance-use disorders adequately but a nonprofit organization is …
Social Issues
April is Second Chance Month and many Nebraskans are celebrating passage of a bipartisan voting rights restoration bill and its focus on second chance…
Social Issues
The future of Senate Bill 4 is still tangled in court challenges. It's the Texas law that would allow police to arrest people for illegally crossing …
Social Issues
Wisconsin lawmakers recently debated reforms for payday loans. Efforts to protect consumers come amid new research about financial pain associated …
Social Issues
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could have implications for the country's growing labor movement. Justices will hear oral arguments in Starbucks …
Social Issues
The U.S. House has approved a measure to expand the Child Tax Credit. It would help 16 million children from low-income families in Indiana and …