In South LA, fast-food restaurants disproportionally outnumber grocery stores. Within its 15.5-square-mile radius, there are nearly 1,000 fast-food restaurants but only seven grocery stores. Access to food is abundant but access to nutritious food is extremely limited. When consumed in surplus, the food sold in many chain outlets and liquor stores can lead to generational health problems.
Mission-driven food and justice organizations are helping combat the existing food swamps and food deserts that continue to affect South Central Angelenos. These community organizations are working to combat systemic barriers that make it difficult for low-income communities to access healthy foods.
Some studies suggest that about half of all low-income neighborhoods in the United States are food deserts. Despite the city’s rich food scene, 24.3% of Angelenos reported experiencing food insecurity and lack of access to healthy foods in 2022. Household food insecurity spiked at the start of the pandemic but recent data showed yet another increase in food insecurity of about 7.7% as compared to December 2021.
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The scarcity of healthy foods
Born and raised in South LA, Michelle Anaya recalls growing up with a diet that consisted of food that came in a hamburger wrapper. “It was basically pretty much McDonald's that was the closest thing to our house.” Anaya’s childhood and early adulthood revolved around eating “out” four days a week, largely in part because her mother would “go on strike and not cook” because she was exhausted from work.
Decades later, Anaya says the same eating habits she built as a child have carried over to her adult life. “...at 36 years old, I still have to remind myself to bring in those vitamins through veggies and to break the cycle of just eating carbs…,” she said. Anaya, now a mother of three, says she is working against “breaking detrimental generational habits” because she wants her children to understand the importance of a sustainable and healthy diet.
Proximity, convenience and affordability are at the forefront of decision-making for thousands of families who are just “getting by,” explained Christine Tran, the executive director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council.
Michelle Anaya and her three daughters at The Village Market Place in South LA. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
Before the pandemic, Anaya worked as a healthcare provider and was one of the millions of workers laid off as a result of the coronavirus. Today, she and her husband rely on CalFresh, which offers financial assistance to families who need extra support to buy healthy food, to help feed their family.
“The pandemic brought added challenges to buying food for my family but we have lived in an area where buying real essential foods like tomatoes, and cucumbers, has been a struggle and that should also be treated as an emergency,” she said.
Unknowingly, Anaya was describing the systematic effects of a food desert and food swamp.
Food deserts and food swamps: Knowing the difference
Contrary to popular belief, food deserts and food swamps do not refer to the same food environment. Food swamps are neighborhoods that have an abundance of liquor stores and fast-food outlets. They have even been considered a threat to public health and predictors of obesity rates in the U.S.
A food desert is a geographical area where residents have few to no convenient options to access healthy foods – especially fruits and vegetables. Disproportionately found in low-income areas, food deserts create extra, everyday hurdles that can make it harder for kids, families and communities to grow healthy and strong.
Creating self-reliant and sustainable communities
The nearest grocery store is about five miles from Anaya’s home in South LA. But the Village Market Place(VMP) , a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for the community and access to “good food,” has allowed her to purchase nutritious foods in her very own neighborhood – something that was not possible before the VMP.
VMP stocks healthy foods and even offers families using CalFresh a discount on fruit and vegetables. “The VMP gives us a 75% discount and it just helps us eat healthier all year round,” Anaya said. Before VMP opened, she walked to the nearest panaderia (bakery) to buy quick snacks like soda and chips.
Just 3 miles North of USC – a private institution that has been a leader of gentrification in South LA and built the only Trader Joe’s in the neighborhood exists the Village Market Place – created to address the needs of the working-class South LA community.
Heather Fenney, managing and operations director who has been with the VMP for over 17 years, is proud the market has supported local farmers for decades while simultaneously working towards their mission of providing “beyond organic, exploitation-free food.”
“We focus on purchasing from farmers who are coming into the market in and around South LA… like those who sell at the Crenshaw mall on the weekends,” says Fenney. “We know that these farmers are not doing the same volume of business as farmers who are [for example] at the Hollywood or Santa Monica Farmers Market.”
The Village Market Place in South LA also houses a café in which their coffes are sold for as litte as $1.00. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
As part of creating the intersection of healthy food and a sustainable local economy, the VMP also purchases produce in their own neighborhood from vendors such as the South Central Growers and Harvesters Network.
Combating food inequities one liquor store at a time
Mission-driven organizations and markets such as the Village Market Place, South LA Cafe and Hanks Mini Market are all served by a backbone entity: The Los Angeles Food Policy Council. Liquor stores and corner stores are even included in the partnership networks.
Los Angeles Food Policy Council Executive Director Christine Tran, explains the mission towards transforming liquor stores in South LA.
The Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Christine Tran acknowledges that there will always be liquor stores – no matter what. That is why the council is working to transform liquor and corner stores into places that also sell fresh fruits and vegetables. “We are trying to deemphasize the liquor and over emphasize fresh produce,” she said.
As the largest food policy council in the country, the organization also provides support for farmers and local food stores. They assist in problem-solving food system challenges such as supply chain setups, refrigeration systems and capital fundraising. Mission-driven organizations often need help with the “implementation side,” said Tran; without practical solutions and a plan, it's just an “aspiration.”
When a population is facing a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in the community, it is a “multifaceted issue” said Tran. “We have to think about the built-in environment that people are facing.”
Los Angeles Food Policy Council Executive Director Christine Tran, explains the concept of a Food Apartheid.
A food chain’s mission for food justice
At the corner of Martin Luther King and Vermont, near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and between an abundance of fast food joints like Pizza Hut, is Everytable , a mission-driven food chain in South LA. It’s one of the only restaurants preparing nutritious meals like salads and hot plates.
“The business has molded itself to make sure everyone has access to nutritious fresh foods at affordable prices,” said Dee, the restaurant’s manager Dee Adimora.
Meals are priced at what each community can afford, meaning meals are priced based on the average income of the neighborhood – a type of social equity project. For example, a meal is priced higher in Downtown Long Beach than in South LA and that is because the income demographic varies.
The reality that most poor and working-class people live in food deserts, lack access to healthy meals, suffer from diabetes and obesity, resulting in generational effects on people's health, is the underlying mission of Everytable mentioned Adimora. They are fighting to “transform the food system” one serving at a time.
Food options at Everytable: Wellness shots, salads, hot plates and locally sourced foods. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
Custumers standing in line at Everytable waiting to purchase meals in bulk. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
Everytable at the corner of Martin Luther King and Vermont. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
“The community actually wants this,” said Danovick Haik, an avid regular at Everytable. “We are in dire need of places to eat that do not consist of fried foods...”
A Pizza Hut establishmemt contributes to a food swamp in South LA. (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
4:1 ratio: In a plaza on Martin Luther King and Vermont exists four unhealthy food options compared to only one healthy option (circled). (Mariela Gomez / Annenberg Media)
Food desserts are a prominent problem for South Angelenos but residents like Haik are hoping to change that by reminding themselves and others of their consumer power. Maybe if we spend more money at the healthy joints, that’ll bring in more markets that offer healthier foods – maybe that will stop all these trash fast foods chains from… [profiting] off of our health…”
