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H ealth & Heritage
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We often hear various politicians, and others, decrying the health of the general public. People are criticised for eating unhealthily, undertaking bad habits such as smoking and drinking, for reclining in front of the television too often and a general lack of exercise or for that matter, other more cerebral stimulation. Part of the problem is short-sightedness and ignorance; that of the politicians as much as anyone else. These people after all, often originate from that section of society who are usually blissfully unaware that, for example; there are actually people who earn less than £10.00 per hour at work or that some families do not have central heating, two cars, holidays or whatever else they take for granted. There are many factors involved in this health problem, though clearly; a lack of money, access, or ‘incentives’ are amongst the more significant problems. I have by no means covered every issue in the following rant. What encouragement is there for many people to eat well, exercise more, to develop and pursue interests and activities whether physical, intellectual, cultural or otherwise? Virtually none. Firstly; the problem of food. Social influence, advertising, bad habits plus the often low price and abundant availability of poor quality junk food, is only half the problem. A lack of information as to what is available combined with the often much higher price of healthier food is in many cases the real culprit. Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive and then, sadly, many people are so used to ‘ready meals’ and the like that they probably don’t know what to do with allot of the fresh produce available. Also, in this increasingly hostile modern world, we have the added problem that much of this so called fresh produce has been tampered with by science, smothered in pesticides and other chemicals, and furthermore because of mass production methods, has less than half of the vitamins and minerals that it should naturally contain. The only way to avoid this problem, other than growing your own, is to buy organic. However, this of course is the most expensive option of all. We have to pay exorbitant amounts to eat something that hopefully resembles the food that our ancestors ate as a matter of course, before greed (mainly) led producers to start doing irresponsible things with our food. Town and city centres are cluttered with an array of fast food restaurants which deliver junk food at low prices; food which often relies on what are basically habit forming ingredients such as milk and other dairy products, and various artificial additives. People are increasingly stressed, despondent and pressurised from many directions in their life and turn to food as a source of comfort and pleasure; with healthier food (usually wrongly) perceived as unappealing by comparison. In view of all this, it is no surprise that most people have a poor and unhealthy diet. As for interests, physical or intellectual pursuits and such like; without the available funds it is almost hopeless for persons or families on a low income. There are many useful examples of the problem. If you lived within a few hours drive and wanted to visit the lake district; transport is a serious issue. Petrol is increasingly expensive and on top of this, across most of the national park you are required to pay often exorbitant fees just to park the car, even way out into the countryside. Public transport is often ineffectual, unavailable or very expensive and further considerations such as food and drink and visiting attractions; especially with families, further greatly increases the financial cost. Cafes, restaurants and shops usually overcharge to exploit visitors to popular locations and the prices of heritage or entertainment venues are reaching scandalous levels; pricing many out of reach to those on low incomes and hence turning such past times into a middle class privilege. A single adult ticket to Fountains Abbey now costs £6.00. Many English Heritage and National Trust properties now charge over £5.00, with many privately run properties charging even twice or more than that, such as at Alnwick Castle. Major art exhibitions; usually held in London institutions and therefore inaccessible to the majority of the population anyway, again charge large amounts and take on an elitist quality. In many places you cannot even visit important architectural and historical monuments such as a cathedral for free anymore. A first time visit to York for any family wanting to see the principle sites, has become a major financial undertaking. Hair raising parking fees, £5.00 cathedral tickets, over £10.00 for the Viking centre, £6.00 each for the castle and for the museum and so on and on. Then more money for food and drink. You might as well include an application for a bank loan when preparing for such an excursion. Eventually, the majority of people will give up trying to do anything. Who can blame them? finis.
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