Good Men Project – Amy Wolfe sees almost every type of person pass through the door of Manna Meal on Charleston’s West Side: young people, middle-aged, retirees, homeowners, families, those derailed by the pandemic. Many are employed full time, coming up a little or more short each paycheck. For most, healthy food is a luxury. For some, Manna’s free meals are literally a lifesaver.
Read the full article.
Wolfe is fully on board with efforts to make West Virginians healthier. But when Gov. Patrick Morrisey went to the Eastern Panhandle in late March to announce a new focus on health, she heard nothing to indicate Manna Meal’s clients’ fundamental health needs were being addressed.
Joined at the press conference by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Morrisey announced his Four Pillars of a Healthy West Virginia. The first pillar stipulates that certain food dyes will be banned from public school lunches. The second calls for an expansion of work, training and education requirements for food assistance (what the governor calls Find Purpose, Find Health). The third pillar: a statewide exercise program called the Mountaineer Mile, challenging every West Virginian to walk at least a mile a day. And the fourth is to request a waiver from the federal government to no longer make soft drinks available in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
