Obe-City.

It's out now and in force all over the media about the obesity epidemic that is growing in Erie County. Of course they are talking about the problem as it affects Buffalo and the poverty stricken areas in the suburbs. But it only becomes media worthy when the diseases of poverty affect the affluent.

Amherst. Williamsville. Clarence.

So, what is to be done? How do we cure this sickness?

First: Poverty – more appropriately the lack of wealth – is a major issue. Many of the poor work in minimum wage jobs or in poorly paying part time jobs. The $15 Now! Movement is a good answer to this part of the crisis. People who object to this claim that it will result in inflation as that money has to come from someplace, so businesses will just have to raise prices.

How many of our working poor slave away at Wal-Mart, MacDonald's, Burger King and other franchise businesses where the workers that are responsible for the profits make next to nothing and pencil pushing desk jockeys at the top make millions?

Someone is getting a pay raise and someone is going to to get a pay cut. The CEO's and Wall Street can all take a major cut in pay, benefits, and severance packages -of at least 50%, since most of the money is going only to a few people, and usually they are the same ones – and that money can go to the working poor.

Money is like water – it needs to flow or it gets stagnant. Time to turn the “trickle down” theory of economics into Niagara Falls. Let the rich lose what they are not using and give it to people that are going to use it to buy food, clothing, shelter, health care – the ounces of prevention that cost less than the pounds of cure. As the old saying goes, you can't have it all – what would you do with it?

And all that spending will create more good paying jobs. So much for unemployment and underemployment,

Second; Affordable food – Let's face the facts: The poor can not afford good, healthy food. Fresh fruits and vegetables, grass fed beef and poultry, etc.  Not the factory farmed garbage that has no nutritional value. Go into those communities and look at what they have for food sources. Not always the best places to shop. Let's go after the zombie homes. Have the owners fix them up so that someone can live in them or pay the bill to tear them down and use eminent domain to turn the land into greenhouses or community gardens, where people in the community can grow good, local organic food for affordable prices. And in the case of greenhouses – all year round.

Third: In Buffalo – the Buffalo School Board need to look at Superintendent Kriner Cash's salary, benefits and bonuses. Why is he being paid that much on a questionable record? Why is he being paid as much as the Chancellor of NYC for overseeing fewer schools? And how much is he being offered for bonuses for increased test scores?

Time for a pay cut. And use that money to make sure that every school is properly staffed with gym teachers and health teachers. Students need at least 30 minutes of exercise a day – that's 5 gym classes a week. How many of our schools have that?

And – get this – New York requires only 1 semester of Health class in 4 years of high school. Wrong answer. Students need 1 semester every year for 4 years. Hire more health teachers to fill in those gaps. Information on health changes every year and students need to be kept up on it.

To top that off – Every school needs a librarian to make sure that students have access to the best possible information on health issues – food, exercise, sleep, and other relevant health topics.

And last – Time to ditch this useless corporate run health care system and adopt a single payer system that gets people the health care that they need when they need it. Too many of our emergency rooms are filled with the poor going after health care for illnesses that a general practitioner is better able and more qualified to treat. The poor don't receive the treatment they need because they can't afford it. A single payer system would address that problem for everyone at a much lower cost than our capitalist run system. Everyone needs a yearly check-up (and we'll need more doctors to do it). What costs less – prevention or cure?

Obesity is a right to life issue. People afflicted with poverty suffer and pay the price for capitalism's ills.

And I, for one, am getting fed up.

Are you?