BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Feb 09 - 01:10 AM

And who pays?

I honestly don't want to come off as a smart-ass here but before you go off half cocked..........The ideas here are all good and many workable too but you need to understand the region and the history. Over the past 50 years there has been god knows how much pumped in through the ARC and others yet progress regarding living conditions and quality of life has been virtually nil. I know. I was part of some of those programs. Yeah, its better now..........but its a lot better elsewhere.   The region is still deep in the grip og King Coal.

May I suggest with all sincerity and true humilty that you read a giant of a book written in 1962 by Harry Caudill called Night Comes to the Cumberlands. When you're done you'll have a much sharper and clearer vision than 20/20, so to speak.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: Alice
Date: 21 Feb 09 - 12:07 PM

20/20 did an update on the Mountain Dew program this week. They said in the week since the airing of the first program, a great number of people had responded to the issue seeking to help. More than 2,000 people had commented on the 20/20 web site. PepsiCo, the makers of Mountain Dew, promise to donate to the mobile dental lab. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6899312&page=1


Over $60,000 has been donated to the people and organizations featured in the 20/20 web page. The show was the highest rated 20/20 since 2004, with 10.9 million viewers.

From Kentucky.com news
snip
"Eller said the program has already been "a tremendous success. It has generated more discussion about the region than I have seen in the last three decades."

"Appalachia had dropped off the national stage for a long time and has not drawn much attention in recent years," he said.
snip
http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/699179.html


Here is the follow up done this week on 20/20:
one week made a difference (a week after the program)
snip
Shawn, the 18-year-old football player from Flat Gap, Ky., who believed he had to move away from home to keep his dreams on track, received scholarship offers from three local universities. He's chosen the respected Union College, the school he has always wanted to attend. His dorm room is ready, and he starts classes on Monday.
snip
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=6922892&page=1

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: Alice
Date: 21 Feb 09 - 12:12 PM

another quote from the follow up link I posted in my last message:

"Kentucky's leaders are hopeful that the stimulus bill signed this week will bring help to their region.

We're getting money to build roads and bridges," said Gov. Steve Beshear. "And part of that's gonna be done in eastern Kentucky. There's money in there for water and sewer projects. And, that's in demand in eastern Kentucky."

Lawyer and community leader Steve Cawood said that the stimulus money for train improvements is ideal for the skills of the mountain residents.

"We have hundreds and hundreds of men and women who could be the welders, be the mechanics, be the tradesmen that could build that equipment," he said. "

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: Kent Davis
Date: 21 Feb 09 - 02:39 PM

I am not familiar with the quality of the water in Eastern Kentucky. My patients who live in Zanesville and McConnellsville, Ohio, have safe municipal water supplies, yet many of them get almost their entire daily fluid intake, and sometimes more than half of their daily calories, from Mountain Dew or other brands of pop. I saw the same thing in Beckley, West Virginia, when I lived there and, again, the safety of the water supply was not the problem. (I drank the water there for 11 years.) Drinking a liter of pop a day is fairly common among my patients and some report drinking 2 liters a day. I have "cured" insomnia, dyspepsia, or hyperglycemia in a few patients by persuading them to switch to water. All of my patients had already heard that drinking so much pop is unhealthy, so I conclude that this is not an educational issue.

Buying all that pop is expensive, yet I see excessive consumption at least as often among the poor as among wealthier patients. Water is cheaper than pop everywhere, even in eastern Kentucky. Even if the region lacks potable tapwater, bottled water costs the same, or less than, pop. If this is a poverty issue, it is a strange one.   

Since many national convenience store chains and fast-food restaurant chains sell pop in single servings of 32 and even 64 ounces, and since Zanesville is not Appalachian, I conclude that excessive pop consumption is not specifically an Appalachian issue.

I don't know the solution. I plan to ask my patients if food stamps can be used to buy pop. I'll let you know. It might be of interest that, when I have asked my patients why they drink so much pop, they say it is because they like the taste, because they don't like water, and because they want the caffeine.

Kent

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:57 PM

True on Zanesville but McConnellsville is part of the region, although on the fringes. Money from other Appalachian projects affects part of eastern and southeastern Ohio as do the problems still associated with coal.

But I agree with you Kent regarding the Dew and Pop problems. Even in my own family!   One of my sons is completely hooked and when I don't buy the stuff he finds plenty of other ways to get it. Most of his friends are also hooked on Dew and assorted "energy" drinks. Of course he has bad role models as both Karen and I are huge coffee drinkers and Karen loves Diet Dew. My bet is that the same holds true from coast to coast no matter where or how you live.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: GUEST,hey there
Date: 24 Feb 09 - 03:06 PM

I stumbled upon this thread when I did a google search for "20/20 Mountain Dew." I was looking for more information on Mt. Dew after watching 20/20 a week ago. I'm 45 years old and I drank Mountain Dew for over 20 years. My stomach started hurting so badly I just had to stop drinking it. I swear---within days---my stomach pains have gone away. But I can't eat tomatoe sauce anymore. I guess the acide in Mt Dew ate away at my insides and they'll need time to heal.

I live in an urban area. I had NO IDEA that Mt. Dew had 50% more caffine than other soft drinks. I didn't know it was more acidic than other drinks too. I was shocked when Mt Dew responded "this is old news and irresponsible reporting." I was sitting there thinking "WOW! I've been drinking this stuff for 20 years and this is the first time I've heard about it." And I'm not living the rural areas.

It's not necessarily an education issue, but an information issue. The amount of Caffine isn't listed on product labels. The amount of acide isn't listed either. People have a right to be informed of content. It shouldnt' require a computer and internet connection to find information.

Now that I'm off my soap box, I have to ask: who are all of you people? I've never seen an active forum with such old style software. What is the Mudcat Cafe? How did you all find each other?

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Feb 09 - 03:33 PM

Hi.

I bet the FAQ has links to the history of the site. :~) When it was created, the software and indeed forums themselves were cutting edge. Look around and you'll see why we keep it the way it is. It's actually a musicians' site.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: Kent Davis
Date: 25 Feb 09 - 12:17 AM

Today I asked one of my anxious, insomniac, caffeine-addicted patients how he was buying so much pop and coffee. He gets it courtesy of a government nutrition program, the food stamp program.

Kent

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: meself
Date: 25 Feb 09 - 12:47 AM

GUEST hey there,

Welcome! And thanks for your contribution. If you click on "Forum Home", and look at the thread titles on the top half of the list, you will readily see that they are almost all to do with folk music, particularly from North America and the UK and Ireland - we are all musicians, fans, and/or afficianados. The lower half of the thread list is devoted to BS - anything non-music, but it's mostly the same bunch of musicos spouting about things we know even less about. There you go!

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: mg
Date: 25 Feb 09 - 10:23 PM

They have to absolutely have to reform the food stamp program so that only certain foods qualify..like WIC..or maybe that is just local. The obvious foods qualify, milk, eggs, vegetables etc. HOpefully some canned ones..I think they do, or they should.

I would recommend a supplementary food stamp program for non-nutritious items, like occasional cokes or cake mixes or something..but in very small amounts.

We have to get money going to the farmers. We have to get food surpluses going to hungry people. We can't be afraid of food surpluses. We should rejoice in it and store it and pass it on. They are slaugtering hundreds of thousands of dairy cows right now because of bad milk prices while children drink mountain dew. Why should America tremble, as my father used to say. mg

Subject: RE: BS: 20/20 & Mountain Dew
From: Barry Finn
Date: 26 Feb 09 - 01:10 AM

Not just the food stamp progran but the schools, colleges, high schools, middle schools push this crap. Some are changing but not nearly enough & not fast enough. Many day care providers (exceptions are State or fed funded like Head Start) are still pouring sugar down the throats of kids too.

Barry