BRADDOCK, Pa.—Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, who once weighed more than 400 pounds, called his rival’s campaign “nasty” after suggesting he eat a vegetable. As mayor, he spent over $1,000 of his own money telling poor Braddock residents to do the same.
At the corner of 4th Street in Braddock, where Fetterman served as mayor from 2006 to 2019, sits a city sign that likely won’t be seen anywhere else in the United States. The sign does not indicate the speed limit or parking hours, but an order to passers-by: “NOTE: EAT MORE VEGETABLES.” Fetterman spent his own money to install the signs as a way to encourage residents to eat healthier, according to local press.
“Eat More Vegetables” sign in Braddock, Pa.
The signs Fetterman installed underscore how the Democrat, who is seeing his chances of winning in November slip because of voter concerns about his health and his far-left record on crime, has no problem embracing a standard doubly so when it comes to nutritional advice. Fetterman said he was surprised by how “bad” the race was turning after a spokeswoman for his Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz said if Fetterman “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a stroke and wouldn’t be in a position to have to lie about it over and over again.” But Fetterman had no problem offering such advice as the mayor of Braddock, which is almost entirely black and is considered a “food desert” by nutrition experts.
Food deserts are places where residents cannot easily buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Fetterman himself said in one 2011 interview that Braddock doesn’t have a single grocery store. Unlike many of Braddock’s poor residents, Fetterman likely didn’t have a hard time using fresh food—his parents supported him financially well into his 40s by giving him tens of thousands of dollars a year and helping to pay for his house in Braddock. Eating healthy at Braddock, Fetterman said in that interview, is “unaffordable”.
“It’s also difficult when you live in a pressured environment. There are a lot of foods that are not healthy, but are readily available and relied on to provide comfort,” he said. “Here, after a hard day’s work for minimum wage, when you come home, all you want to do is watch TV and eat Doritos and drink soda.”
A spokesman for Fetterman did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2013, Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, grew tired of the “negative” messages on Braddock’s street signs. While working at the Free Store, a charity in the city, Gisele Fetterman designed the Positive Parking initiative.
“Don’t park here,” “Don’t loiter there,” Gisele Fetterman said at the time. “We wanted to counter them with signs that spread joy and kindness, signs with uplifting messages.”
The city council unanimously approved the project with the condition that the Fettermans pay for the signs themselves, to the tune of more than $1,000. Soon after, dozens of billboards with slogans such as “Believe in yourself,” “Follow your dreams,” “Hug a tree” and “Eat more vegetables” appeared around the 423-hectare city.
Inspired in part by truck drivers who allegedly drove through town and admired the signs, Gisele Fetterman told a local newspaper that she hoped to expand the effort. Not only do Braddock residents need to remember to eat broccoli, Gisele Fetterman said, but they also need to know not to smoke or litter.
Most of the Gisele Fetterman signs are no longer in Braddock, the result of damage or theft. Ironically, the “Eat More Vegetables” signs remain as questions about Fetterman’s health increasingly become a liability for his Senate campaign.
of Washington Post call to Fetterman to release his medical records earlier this month in an editorial, calling “the lingering, unanswered questions about his health … troubling.” of post‘s request came a week after Fetterman’s hometown newspaper, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, asked “his ability to serve”.
Reports also appeared this month that other Democratic officials in Pennsylvania are privately worried about Fetterman’s fitness for office. Those Democrats cited Fetterman’s lack of campaign appearances and poor public speaking skills, a common side effect of strokes, as cause for concern.
After several weeks of discussion, Fetterman agreed to debate Oz in October. Fetterman’s campaign initially requested that their candidate obtain a closed-caption monitor to assist him in the debate.
“We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intention to do that,” Fetterman said. political. “It’s just been just ever about addressing some of the ongoing issues of stroke, auditory processing, and we’re going to be able to solve that.”
