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County gets U.S. grant to reduce salt in diets
By LAUREN STANFORTH Staff Writer
Published: 12:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 21, 2010

SCHENECTADY -- The county is one of five municipalities nationwide to receive a federal grant to reduce sodium in people's diets -- specifically senior citizens in Schenectady County.

The county's public health services will get $120,000 over three years to reduce the sodium content in meals served at senior centers, found in home-delivered meals, and offered at senior residential facilities. The county will also work with restaurants frequented by seniors such as coffee shops and diners to increase lower sodium options on their menus. Cornell Cooperative Extension will assist with the program.

"There is abundant evidence that as many as 60 percent of seniors over 65 have elevated blood pressure. We see them as an ideal intervention group for our work in Schenectady County," said Dr. David S. Pratt, the county's health commissioner, in a statement.......................>>>>...................>>>>...................http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/County-gets-U-S-grant-to-reduce-salt-in-diets-911885.php

How do we measure if spending this $120K over 3 years worked?  How much bloat and patronage will this add to the county public health services department over the next 3 year?  Who will pay for the added bloat after the federal money runs out?

Boondoggle!

Quoted from CICERO

How do we measure if spending this $360K over 3 years worked?  How much bloat and patronage will this add to the county public health services department over the next 3 year?  Who will pay for the added bloat after the federal money runs out?

Boondoggle!

I think it's $120K 'total' over 3 years.......no?

My question is..........doesn't the county public health service dept have a registered dietician on staff? I would certainly hope so. And if they do or even if they don't............do they need $120K of  tax payer's money to instill a little 'common sense'? WOW!!

My mistake, I mis-read it.  I thought it was $120K per year over the next 3 years.

What ever happened to taking personal responsibility for taking care of ones self and not have to have the government control every aspect of our lives.

Quoted from Shadow

What ever happened to taking personal responsibility for taking care of ones self and not have to have the government control every aspect of our lives.

PRECISELY.


Now, of course DV will say it's a "federal grant" so he'll say the money is not coming from the taxpayers.  Gee, where's the money tree that grows money for the federal government to pick?    

And once again, DV's dem buddies get us in worse and worse financial shape.  WHY is the federal government spending money on things that cost nothing?  

Everybody should be reducing their salt intake.   Seniors who have to rely on meals either in nursing homes
or senior meal programs -- are often fed very salty and very fatty foods.   Even in the hospitals.   When my
mother was in the hospital just before her death 10 years ago, I was surprised at how often Saint Clare's
served hot dogs to patients --- and she was on the floor for cardiac patients.  

"seniors over 65?" Are these morons for real? The County Health Department is another horrible patronage mill for DEMS. Qualified people are run out so that more patronage hires can be placed. Thank you TU for uncovering yet another DEM waste of public funds.

      They can't even run a County rabies clinic properly. They had one in Central Park with no animal control officers. Dr Pratt nowhere to be found. Pit bulls running wild biting other dogs and children by Tiny Tot Land. No one in charge-no accountability-nobody knows from nuthin. This is a total waste of $120,000-what idiot doesn't know to watch their salt intake? More ninny nanny laws can be written to soak up the coming pork.

Listen, people will do what they want to do. Take the salt out of their lunches and they'll add it via salt shaker. Where are the well paid Dieticians in the senior centers? They are supposed to offer such options.  A grant to do the job of the Dietician...classic.

Seriously, why does the federal government have to step in? Mandate the County run nursing home to do the right thing...we already PAY FOR THAT! I feel a money migraine coming on....

If they need $120K of taxpayer's money to regulate salt....then they best not have a dietician on the payroll who would be paid to oversee this horrible salt abuses!!!

If we didn't get the grant -- some other entity would have applied for it and gotten it.  Besides, the money
was already appropriated (legal jargon for "spent")  and you can't  "unspend" the money -- seriously .. once
Congress appropriates the money it is spent.    You can't unspend it and lower the deficit.  
So all things considered -- I'd rather have Federal money being sent to us .. rather than to some other
state or other county.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

If we didn't get the grant -- some other entity would have applied for it and gotten it.  Besides, the money
was already appropriated (legal jargon for "spent")  and you can't  "unspend" the money -- seriously .. once
Congress appropriates the money it is spent.    You can't unspend it and lower the deficit.  
So all things considered -- I'd rather have Federal money being sent to us .. rather than to some other
state or other county.

I'd rather the government didn't waste money like this.  The federal deficit is well over a trillion dollars in just the past two years, and back in the spring time I think it was they looked to increase the debt ceiling to an unheard of 14 TRILLION!   Not that it would go to that, but that was intended to allow for that much debt.  

Those dems must STOP with all this wasteful spending.  People do NOT need the government to spend money to have them reduce salt.  Seniors have medicare and when they go to the doctor, the doctor can tell them to reduce their salt.  Children are either covered by parents insurance, by medicaid, or these child health plus (or similar) programs and both the children's doctor and the school nurse can tell the parents not to give children salt.

Now, here, read this.   "Salt raises blood pressure and which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and death.  You need to stop using so much salt.  When you shop, read the labels on the things you buy for how many mg of salt are in it.   Instead of using those Helper boxed foods (e.g. chicken helper, hamburger helper) use chicken breast or ground beef and mix it with noodles and low salt sauces.  Look for foods that say low salt.  Ask your doctor how many mg salt you can have per day.   When in a store, check your blood pressure."    

Now did that cost any money to write that?  If I am verbally talking to someone, is it going to cost taxpayers money for me to verbally tell someone that?  Come on, we do NOT need the government wasting money on stuff that people learn from many other sources.  

$120K on Accent is a whole lot of MSG. Wow. I feel GREAT about the future of America now.

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reduce the sodium content in meals served at senior centers, found in home-delivered meals, and offered at senior residential facilities. The county will also work with restaurants frequented by seniors such as coffee shops and diners to increase lower sodium options on their menus

Some of these localities the folks are sort of captive is best way I can describe it.  The person has no control over the preparation or type of food served.  

Having to limit sodium in the diet is a real challenge.  Just take a peak at anything you buy and you will see a considerable amount of sodium or salt in all processed foods.  Out goes the cold cuts, the canned foods, the cheeses, the hamburger helper etc etc.  The alternative it to only shop the outside perimeter of a grocery store and not get into the isles.  Think about it.  All the fresh vegetables and foods are all located on the outer perimeter of the store.  While shopping I have the personal choice or control over what I purchase for my eating pleasure.

For seniors though they many times are at the mercy of the facility they are visiting or living in. Yes, the facilities should already be nutrition conscious but many don't think to address the sodium issue.  I am not sure about the the federal food program guidelines for senior facilities but for general guidelines the federal food program does not really address this issue in it's requirements to foods served under it's umbrella.

The area that I find is a nicety but not really a necessity is the suggestion that restaurants offer low sodium choices.  Boy it would make my eating out a great deal easier to have low salt choices to enjoy but what has me concerned is will this become an option offer or suggested to restaurants and then suddenly become another law perpetrated on the restaurants like so many other restrictions to our rights of choice of what we eat.

If the food is prepared in bulk like at residential facilities etc. how can one achieve a meal of reduced sodium without ruining the eating pleasure for everyone else.  The preparers would have to learn to prepare foods using seasonings that have no salt or low in salt. This is where I can see this grant could be of some use. Teach preparers how to offer meals low in sodium but yet worth eating and tasty.

Since the money is already spent as someone earlier explained we might as well do the most with what was given to us.

Here is what they are going to find out with this study.  Salt is a preservative, it allows food to be in storage longer.  Nursing Homes purchase food in bulk to reduce costs.  They buy from places like Sysco Foods or US Foodservice, where the food sits in racks in a giant warehouse until the order is called in.

Short of building a huge refrigerated and frozen warehouse onto nursing homes to get direct delivery from produce sheds and meat processing plants, salt preservatives are going to be in most of the foods we eat.  Fresh food is EXPENSIVE.

The benefits of using salt as a preservative far out weighs some of the health risks related to salt.  IMHO