17 Comments
User's avatar
JohnnyJohnson's avatar

Bob, I will beg.

Take care,

Johnny

JohnnyJohnson's avatar

Bob, do you mean if you drive a 1996 RAV4 like me, I will pay nothing for a parking infraction?

Bob Dunning's avatar

In your case, Johnny, only if you get down on your knees and beg

Frank Lee's avatar

Sigh. They have been failing on the authoritarian Karen act to force fluoride in the water, so here we go with yet another soft bigotry of low expectations forcing "beneficial" drugs and chemicals on all the little people too ignorant to care for themselves. At least the fluoride thing was directed at all humanity... even people that get plenty of fluoride in their regular dental care products. This folic acid thing seems a bit racist.

Robert Jacobs's avatar

Will folic acid be added to taco shells too?

John Stalmach's avatar

At first, I thought "There goes the nanny state, in action again." Then I read on, and now I believe you're talking about a ninny state. Next thing you know, those ninnies in Sacramento will ban anyone who can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Or maybe restrict them solely to the legislature...

John Crowe's avatar

Oh, hold the phone. Has Junior had a crack at the folic acid story? It ain't over 'till it's over.

Michael Aigner's avatar

I just had to Google the benefits of folic acid for males. Apparently there are many. One site recommends digesting it daily. A tortilla a day keeps the doctor away.

Frank's avatar

Let’s skip the predictable talking points about prenatal care for Latino families and just fix everything with… tortillas. Because obviously that’s the level of policy sophistication we’re working with. Go Sacramento, go. Really knocking it out of the park by pretending symbolic gestures are solutions.

Josephine Lewis's avatar

Bill, this is a “yes and.” Fortification of foods decreased spina bifida (folic acid deficiency caused defect) by 70%. Hispanic women have the highest rates in the US. https://www.cdc.gov/spina-bifida/data/index.html

Bob Dunning's avatar

Josephine - Thanks for that statistic. Much appreciated.

In my mind what it truly shows is the lack of decent healthcare in at-risk communities.

I'll bet those birth defects are also higher among all low-income populations regardless of ethnicity.

If eating more tortillas helps, fine. But better healthcare for low-income folks will pay great dividends with all sorts of health issues.

Josephine Lewis's avatar

Let me expand your mind then. Yes, good healthcare is critical for all, but I don’t see you poking fun at the fortified flour (see folate) that you will find in the crackers, bread, and cereals or the vitamin D in milk or the iodine in salt that are likely in your house. Fortification of commonly eaten foods is a global public health intervention that is inexpensive and proven effective. I will stop short of accusing this group of cultural insensitivity in poking at the fact that we are now giving as much attention to the health benefit of fortification for populations for whom tortillas are a common food, and cereal and sliced bread are not.

Bob Dunning's avatar

Thanks, Josephine.

Preventing birth defects should be a high priority, obviously, no matter one's ethnicity.

The best way to do that is for all California women of child-bearing age to have access to excellent and affordable healthcare.

Dropping folic acid into tortillas is based on a tired stereotype about a certain ethnicity in California. As if this has solved the problem.

Excellent healthcare for all is a much better solution than eating more tortillas.

By the way, tortillas have been a staple in our non-Hispanic household since I was a kid. In California especially, their use is pretty much universal because 1) they are delicious, 2) they are incredibly versatile in hot dishes and as wraps for just about everything, and 3) they sail through the air beautifully when refs make a bad call in a basketball game

Bill Weisgerber's avatar

….a couple of thoughts:

Don’t really think POTUS will even know he’s mad about folic acid in our tortillas, until the puppeteers pull that string—somehow connecting it to a Peace Prize (and, whaddabout flour tortillas—my favorite—no folic acid benefits?).

And, secondly…we’re already experiencing the banning single-use bag law, and now have a hall closet stuffed to the gunnels with re-usable bags🤦🏻‍♂️

Bob Dunning's avatar

Fill those bags with Tortillas, Bill.

I've contacted the Nobel committee in Oslo and told them when I win the Peace Prize, please give the medallion to one Donald J. Trump, who has solved every war except the Hatfields and the McCoys, but I get to keep the cash prize.

Bill Weisgerber's avatar

Brilliant solutions, Bob.

Standby to standby on POTUS’ Hatfields/McCoys claim…(definitely keep the cash).

Bob Dunning's avatar

11 million Kronor is nothing to sneeze at