Forsyth County Rep. Donny Lambeth is primary sponsor of the so-called healthy food bill that would help alleviate the “food desert” problem in parts of North Carolina.
The bill comes a year after a legislative committee heard about the food desert issue. At that time, according to the Winston-Salem Journal:
At the time, former state Rep. Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, who was a co-chairman of the state House Committee on Food Desert Zones, said the General Assembly should not get in the way of the problem but could do little to help it.
“It (food desert) is a problem in North Carolina, but it’s something that has to be fixed by the private sector. We wanted to see if state government was putting up barriers to stop private businesses from locating in these food deserts, and we found that state government is not putting up barriers,” Starnes said. “There isn’t much we can do.”
Never let it be said—especially among progressives — there isn’t much government can do, and this bill is a good example. Who would imagine stocking veggies in convenience stores could involve so much time, effort and —of course—money.
