The American Heart Association responded to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State today.
“Creating jobs and improving health could go hand in hand, especially by opening supermarkets in poor neighborhoods,” said Bob Elling, chair of the American Heart Association’s New York State Advocacy Committee, paramedic and paramedic instructor at Hudson Valley Community College. “The American Heart Association is especially interested in seeing healthy food become available to all New Yorkers. Low-income neighborhoods have 50 percent fewer supermarkets than wealthier ones, which means that too many people are eating poorly. With 8.5 million New Yorkers overweight or obese, we need to make healthy food available to everyone. The governor’s anti-poverty initiative in Rochester and the proposed increase in recreation as part of tourism are good health measures. It’s also important that we invest in supermarkets in poor neighborhoods across the state.”