HCMC entices Hmong mothers with rooftop garden

Zed wrote:

I hope they throw those hmong off the roof when they get up there

Could you be more ignorant and racist? It's people like you we hate and makes this place look bad.

Besides, the Hmong have a very complicated belief-system and it's important for Hmong moms to follow certain rituals. Like us baptizing or Jewish males getting bris. Personally, anything that makes child-birth less complicated and more enjoyable is fine in my book. It's already more pain and stress than many humans ever encounter. If you are a man and have ever had a bad kidney stone, you know.

Margie Gunderson wrote:

Besides, the Hmong have a very complicated belief-system and it's important for Hmong moms to follow certain rituals. Like us baptizing or Jewish males getting bris. Personally, anything that makes child-birth less complicated and more enjoyable is fine in my book. It's already more pain and stress than many humans ever encounter. If you are a man and have ever had a bad kidney stone, you know.

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They learned to whine and bich just like the muslims

And reality wrote:

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They learned to whine and bich just like the muslims

And something tells me you have never given birth to anything, much less an idea. And does your mom or pastor know that you're a racist? Have a safe and pleasant tomorrow.

Margie Gunderson wrote:

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And something tells me you have never given birth to anything, much less an idea. And does your mom or pastor know that you're a racist? Have a safe and pleasant tomorrow.

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I don't hear the Jews, Catholics, or the Protestants Whining day after day after day after day. WHY????? Because they can do it themselves.

"The garden was funded by a grant from the city of Minneapolis.

Nadeau says the hospital is excited about getting the freshest ingredients for its recipes, and being able to accommodate the cultural preferences of its patients. "

There is no doubt that this is a nice thing to do. If HCMC is growing stuff on the roof - not just for the Hmong - and it is saving money while providing the same or better service, that is great. The way this article is written does not have that spin on it. We are talking about a city and a hospital which are both in dire financial straits. A hospital that recently said how challenging things are and that any loss of funds would jeopardize their ability to provide services. A city that has been whining about any loss in state aid funds.

If they are both in such bad financial positions, should not the focus be on sound, reliable, and economical services rather that nice to have things? The reporter may not be accurately portraying the situation.

Darwinian wrote:

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Do you have any idea why the Hmong are here?
They fought for us, bravely, during the Vietnam War; then, when the war was over, we deserted them, leaving them to face persecution and murder because they had helped us. They became refugees because of our actions - the very least we can give them is a safe haven.
And sure, the new arrivals are dependent on public assistance - how could they not be, arriving from refugee camps with barely more than the clothing they have on. But, their children become productive members of society - I count among my co-workers and acquaintances Hmong physicians, nurses, lawyers, judges, member of our military, teachers, farmers, business owners, writers.

Vietnam was over 30 years ago. We do not have a responsbility to pertually accept any Hmong from Vietnam as a refugee. This is the same bleeding heart liberal dribble that we owe African-Americans everything for something that happened many generations ago - that we owe them an apology forever.

I do not hate the Hmong. There are good and bad people among them just like anywhere else. In a time of very limited funds, the perception (real or imagined) this article provide of additional special treatment for a minority group becomes quite a lighting rod.

Frustrated wrote:

"The garden was funded by a grant from the city of Minneapolis.
Nadeau says the hospital is excited about getting the freshest ingredients for its recipes, and being able to accommodate the cultural preferences of its patients. "
There is no doubt that this is a nice thing to do. If HCMC is growing stuff on the roof - not just for the Hmong - and it is saving money while providing the same or better service, that is great. The way this article is written does not have that spin on it. We are talking about a city and a hospital which are both in dire financial straits. A hospital that recently said how challenging things are and that any loss of funds would jeopardize their ability to provide services. A city that has been whining about any loss in state aid funds.
If they are both in such bad financial positions, should not the focus be on sound, reliable, and economical services rather that nice to have things? The reporter may not be accurately portraying the situation.

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State funds for HCMC may need to be cut down.

Correction: The Hmong in the United States are mainly from Laos where the CIA recruited them during the Vietnam War. Many then refuged in Thailand where the US resettled many in the late 70s and early 80s. It was not until a few years ago that some of the last refugees were resettled. There exists Hmong in Vietnam, but the US never resettled any Hmong from Vietnam.

Another note to point out, while many are whining about tax dollars being wasteful on this project, please be mindful many Hmong too have established themselves like the Irish, Germans, Norwegians, etc. They pay their taxes too. So stop with the ranting about your tax dollars when in fact it is not you alone. Furthermore, many are failing to acknowledge that this garden is not just for the Hmong, but for the general populous coming in too. To bluntly make it a negative factor solely on the Hmong alone is to be prejudice. It seems from the postings here, many of the so called claimed 'taxpayers' did not get what they paid for. Go get an education perhaps you will be less ignorant and getting your dollars worth. Last I recall, your tax funds education too.

Frustrated wrote:

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Vietnam was over 30 years ago. We do not have a responsbility to pertually accept any Hmong from Vietnam as a refugee. This is the same bleeding heart liberal dribble that we owe African-Americans everything for something that happened many generations ago - that we owe them an apology forever.
I do not hate the Hmong. There are good and bad people among them just like anywhere else. In a time of very limited funds, the perception (real or imagined) this article provide of additional special treatment for a minority group becomes quite a lighting rod.

this is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of happening, of all the things the hospital needs, this is not one of them.

A key question is why a disproportionately large percentage of Hmong ended up in the "generous welfare" states of Minnesota and Wisconsin? Minnesota has far more than 2% of the Hmong in the US. Hint: It is not the Minnesota winters.

Next off, unless a women unexpectedly goes into labor and an ambulance is called, a birth at HCMC is likely a Medicaide or "welfare" birth. Typically hospitals claim they lose money on these so why would HCMC try to this clientèle to come there? Rates at HCMC are very high for "paying customers".

Getting to the "green roof" paid for with a grant from the City of Minneapolis, which wants to make residents pay a "streetlight user fee". Green roofs cost a lot more than something like a "white" roof.

Also, many of the Hmong, especially the older Hmong are very resourceful and industrious gardeners and "truck" farmers. There are a number of businesses/stores in the Twin Cities that sell specialty Hmong food including a wide variety of locally grown in-season produce. You see these at almost any local farmers market. These Hmong growers, especially the older ones, seem very adept at labor intensive agriculture, which is ideal for "herbs and spices".

If the demand is there they can raise these herbs and spices that can apparently be grown on the roof of HCMC. I occasionally shop at a Hmong store for rice and stir fry vegetables. They have lots of herbs and spices there. I wonder about the claim that these are not "available".

Also, despite the talk of "global warming" (which the "green roof" is supposed to help prevent) we still have this thing called "winter" and last I heard women don't only give birth during the peak of the "herbs and spices" growing season. They would need a greenhouse on the roof to grow these "herbs and spices" year round. That would get really expensive!

I don't mind a little extra money for "culturally appropriate cuisine" but I bet there are dozens of Hmong merchants or farmers who are thinking "We can supply/raise these "herbs and spices". Most are probably already on the shelf.

Well atleast some animal will not be sacrificed...Thats what hmongs do when a relative dies....The Hmong Funeral----
When a Hmong dies, his or her soul must travel back to every place the person lived until it reaches the burial place of its placenta. Only after the soul is properly dressed in the "placental jacket" can it travel on to be reunited with ancestors and to be reincarnated as the soul of a new baby. The Hmong revere their elders, and believe that anyone who is not accorded the proper funerary rites - being washed, dressed in special clothes, honored with animal sacrifices, verbally guided back to where the placenta is buried, lamented with musical instruments and laid to rest will have a lost, naked and wandering soul. Funeral rituals often last three to four days.

Wow a tax payer funded garden for a tax payer funded child birth which will lead to tax payer funder food stamps, tax payer funded section 8, tax payer funded health care, tax payer funded education, tax payer funded welfare, and tax payer funded jails.

Skip the garden! Please!!!

A rooftop garden just in general sounds like a good idea for a hospital. Just think of the therapeutic value for cancer patients, addiction, mental illness, etc. And fresh herbs are better in the food anyway.

Nota Sheep wrote:

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So.. these hmong that fought in the war FORTY YEARS AGO are STILL coming to this country? You'd think they'd be retirement age by now! The ones coming now weren't even ALIVE during the war.

The Hmong in SE Asia are still being persecuted for the role they played as our allies in the Vietnam war, and many of the new arrivals here were born in refugee camps in Thailand as a result of that persecution.

ForReal wrote:

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Uh, yes it is. We enticed them to back us then bailed. That's fact.

Man, we sure entice these people a lot.

Well now wrote:

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I don't hear the Jews, Catholics, or the Protestants Whining day after day after day after day. WHY????? Because they can do it themselves.

And yet, hospitals provide kosher food for observant Jews, and no one is complaining (yet) on this forum about that accommodation.

MN at heart wrote:

This brief article irritated me. Herbs for all, so then whey specifically mention the special herbs for the Hmongs? I am ignorant in not knowing what they had done for our country (thank you to a previous poster for filling me in), but I just get so upset at American having to following or make changes to other peoples beliefs/cultures for people that have left their country and have come here. When in Rome.......

You end your comment with "When in Rome...." I bet you eat pizza, and spaghetti and maybe calzones and other Italian specialties. Did you ever wonder how they became staples of the American diet? They were brought here by Italian immigrants, who were vilified, when they first arrived, for not fitting in, not assimilating fast enough.
The fact is, much of what we consider American culture was brought here by immigrants, all of whom were originally vilified. Do you enjoy Chinese take-out? Google "yellow peril" and see how the Chinese were vilified when they first came. Do you enjoy a beer on St. Patrick's Day? Check out the reactions to the Irish immigrants when they first came here. Do you enjoy bratwurst? The Germans were the targets of hate when they first arrived.
Every immigrant group has been vilified, then, gradually accepted as they assimilated and as their cultural contributions became part of the tapestry known as American culture.

If that is all they eat after a marathon, the hospital is saving a ton of money on food. Anyway, I am sure most of the herbs are going to find their way into other foods that the hospital makes. They are getting huge on the hummus stuff.

no problem when "ROOF GARDEN" causes roof leaks,and it costs hundreds of thousands to fix- no problem, we all fell so good . free herbs and free child birth - isn't America great