Lifestyle

Can You Believe Some Folks Have a Beef With Texas?

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Tony Maples Photography

 

People from Texas are very prideful, and that’s the way it should be. Right?

Unfortunately others seem to find fault with our beautiful state. They criticize, speak out against us — and most of those critics have never even been to the Lone Star State.

At 268,596 square miles, Texas is the second largest state behind Alaska. According 2014 U.S. Census, there are 25.5 million people in Texas, and it’s the second most populous state behind only California. Most of the criticism is about our state having more executions and rated as the fourth highest with the number of incarcerated people in the United States. More bankruptcies are filed, more homeless people are here, and Texas has more teenage pregnancies. As in these and other problems we have, Texans gets a bad rap, and that’s an unfair statement if you consider the population. Are we in the same category as Rhode Island? Compare apples to apples.

Obesity on scale

Photo: drlinda-md.com

Speaking of apples, Texans do have issues, which have caught our immediate attention. Bigger is not always better, as in the case of Texas’ obesity rate, which stands at over 31.9 percent. Our state of has the 13th highest adult obesity rate in the nation, according to The State of Obesity. Fact is, southern people are heavier due to a variety of fried foods and Texas sized meals. We’re still fat, but to our credit, we’re moving in the right direction, down the scales.

Since this Census came out, there are now many more resources from companies and schools. Restaurants are giving Texans healthier choices. Laws have been passed to cut down on adult obesity by making children eat healthier. Texas has set nutritional standards for school lunches, breakfasts and snacks which are tougher than the current U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements. The state also has passed requirements for body mass index screenings of children and adolescents. For adults, more and more companies stifled with yearly double-digit health cost increases are whipping employees into shape.

Every head of Human Resources in this country should be sounding off the alarm at full throttle. Until recently, health insurance has not been made affordable for many of our Texan brothers and sisters. There’s more to health than fighting just obesity. There are some obese individuals whose bodies are working just fine. Because of this, health insurance premiums are beginning to drop making it easier for them to afford. The progress of this problem is getting better each day, and just like we always say and do, we will “Git Er Done.”

High School Graduation

Photo: starchaser187.wordpress.com

Another problem which exist here in our beautiful state is that we rank 44th in the nation for high school graduation, not to mention and we’re dead last in voter turnout and 48th in voter registration. Our problem with this particular issue is the growing population here are not US citizens and that gives false numbers when it comes to statistics and bad reviews, it’s an unfair statement.

Air Pollution from Smokestacks

Photo: Wikipedia

Though Texas is undoubtedly far superior to every other state in the country, we aren’t perfect at everything. We have our setbacks just like everyone else, and we do acknowledge every single one of them.

Here is how we ranked environmentally in 2011:

50th = lowest, 1st = highest

Amount of Carbon Dioxide Emissions – 1st

Amount of Volatile Organic Compounds Released into Air – 1st

Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Water – 1st

Amount of Recognized Cancer-Causing Carcinogens Released into Air – 1st

Amount of Hazardous Waste Generated – 1st

Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Air – 5th

Number of Hazardous Waste Sites on National Priority List – 7th

Consumption of Energy per Capita – 5th

Texans take this very seriously and now have state of the arc techniques have been enforced to help control it. In 2016, Texans have managed to climb out of these uncomfortable ratings and things are improving daily to make sure our citizens are safe and our air quality is good.

Texas Barbecue sign

Photo: retireearlylifestyle.com

Texas also has the 12th highest economy in the world, even though we survived the massive oil crash in the 1980s. The Lone Star State is not used to being rated anything but #1 on anything we do. We are improving our low statistics daily. Texas is filled with dedicated citizens and is always looking for improvement on anything and everything.

The only beef we want is the barbecued kind… not low ranking statistics on charts. Y’all come on down.