I watched all four videos with great interest. Thanks, Perry.
A few observations:
1) Villa 31 is described as Argentina’s “most notorious” slum. I’ve always heard that it is the best of the shantytowns. From The Retiro bus station it does not look all that bad. Houses are constructed of relatively sturdy materials. The kitchen in the featured home was better than many I’ve seen in middle class residences. They do not pay for electricity.
2) The woman was asked if she would buy vegetables rather than pasta and junk food if vegetables were cheap. She said “yes” in an unconvincing way. What does ten liters of Coca-Cola cost? Isn’t that what she told the doctor she drank on a daily basis? Seems to me that you can buy quite a few salad ingredients for that price. The issue is education and social values. If you prefer the taste of chips and other junk food, you are not going to switch to carrots without some incentive. Obesity is not FORCED on people, as the British woman stated. The family she stayed with were far from being seriously poor. Truck drivers get good pay. The family simply do not care to learn about nutrition and/or lack the discipline to do anything about their diets. It seems that nobody – other than the BBC - is helping them to learn
3) What is government doing to change eating habits? The Kirchners have stayed in power in large part because they have given generous subsidies to the poor. Apparently there are no restrictions on what can be bought and there are inadequate attempts to educate people regarding nutrition. The lunch served to the children at the soup kitchen did not look nutritious and, as pointed out, the portions were absurdly large. A lot was being thrown away.
4) The video makes growing class divisions very clear. A presumably affluent woman interviewed at the disco - or whatever it was - denied that there is obesity in Argentina. You can be sure that she never ventures outside of the upscale areas of the city. Her vacations are probably in Punta del Este or Miami. There is a huge disconnect between the upper middle class / upper class and the rest of society.
5) One of the videos interviewed a doctor in a public hospital. The public hospital system is something commendable about Argentina. Unfortunately many of the hospitals are inadequate but something is better than nothing. They do the best with the resources that they have.
6) Sad that obesity is now associated with Argentina – not just beautiful women in elegant clothes, sunny skies, tango and polo.
