The Truth about Food Deserts

Refocusing Priorities in Addressing Healthy Food Access in Historically Underserved

Communities
Community Health Councils (CHC) a community-based health policy education organizationis one of
the many groups that are fighting for comprehensive solutions to addressing South LAs deeply rooted
inequities in healthy food resource access. Studies conducted by CHC, South LA residents, universities
and other researchers indicate that individuals in South LA face greater barriers to healthy food access
than in other communities. These disparities have been shown to contribute to health inequities related
to obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

Setting the Stage: The Historical Context of Food Deserts in South LA

South LAs food inequities did not develop overnight. The food desert conditions in South LA have
evolved from decades of discriminatory policies in both the public and private sectors. In the 1960s,
growing economic development in the suburbs of Los Angeles contributed to supermarket flight1. This
phenomenon was caused by the outflow of grocers from urban areas as they followed white middle
class shoppers into suburban communities. The absence of these food businesses paralleled other public
and private divestment in neighborhoods like South LA, contributing to lost tax revenues, jobs and
access to amenities2.
These factors set the stage for the frustration that erupted in South LA following the controversial
verdict of the 1992 Rodney King trial, out of which the community experienced additional losses in
businessesincluding grocery stores. Through the subsequent ReBuild LA program, 32 new grocery
stores were proposed to be built in South LA. Ten years after the unrest, only one new grocery store was
developed in the area3. Concurrently, South LA has experienced a chronic disease health crisis, where
one third of the residents are obese, one in ten are diabetic, and three in ten deal with hypertension4.

Grounding Research in Truth

In recent years, research on food desert communities has had mixed findings5. While some studies have
found that increased healthy food access is associated with improved nutrition behaviors, BMI and other
1

Cummins, Steven, and Sally Macintyre. "Food environments and obesityneighbourhood or nation?."
International journal of epidemiology 35.1 (2006): 100-104.
2

Zenk, S. N., Schulz, A. J., Israel, B. A., James, S. A., Bao, S., & Wilson, M. L. (2005). Neighborhood racial
composition, neighborhood poverty, and the spatial accessibility of supermarkets in metropolitan Detroit.
American journal of public health, 95(4), 660-667.
3

Larson, Tom and Miles Finney. "Rebuilding South Central Los Angeles: Myths, Realities, and Opportunities. School
of Business and Economics" (PDF). 2012. California State University, Los Angeles.
4

Mejia, N. (2015). Neighborhood food environment, diet, and obesity among Los Angeles County adults, 2011.
Preventing chronic disease, 12.
5

Tamara Dubowitz, Shannon N Zenk, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, Deborah A Cohen, Robin Beckman, Gerald Hunter,
Elizabeth D Steiner and Rebecca L Collins (2015). Healthy food access for urban food desert residents: examination

related health outcomes, other studies have found no such relationships. However, self-reported data
on grocery store prevalence, which is assumed to be an adequate proxy for healthy food access, is
flawed. For this reason, it is imperative that data on healthy food access is validated through on the
ground field researchalso known as ground truthing.
Between 2001 and 2011, CHC conducted a 10 year longitudinal study on healthy food access in South
LA. In partnership with the University of Southern California, CHC published three peer-reviewed articles
that highlighted disparities in the quality and health of food in South LA grocery stores and restaurants
as compared to other parts of the City6,7,8. While there are numerous businesses in South LA that selfidentify as grocery stores, CHCs community-grounded research revealed that not all grocery stores are
created equal. South LA stores had a statistically significant higher concentration of expired foods and
fewer healthy options. Healthy food options in South LA stores were also priced higher. Furthermore,
South LA residents traveled on average 20 minutes more than West LA residents to reach their preferred
grocery store. The above outcomes highlight that factors beyond geographic proximityincluding
quality, price and varietyalso contribute to poor healthy food access in South LA.

Change is on the Horizon

Today, the South LA food landscape is changing for the better as a result of the policy, systems and
environmental changes. While improvements are gradual, evidence affirms that a generational change
in diets and health outcomes has been unlocked in South LA and is moving forward. One early sign of
changing times is the success of zoning regulations that control the spread of standard fast food
development models. The purpose of the restrictions is to preserve limited remaining land in South LA
for other types of food options.
This unique policy dates to 2008 when the City responded to community concerns regarding South LAs
overconcentration of fast food restaurants by adopting an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO). The ICO
placed a moratorium on the development of new free standing fast food restaurants within mile of an
existing fast food restaurant. Since the ICO, 14 new grocery stores have developed in the area while only
one new standalone fast food restaurant developed.
The City has reaffirmed its commitment to health by adopting the Plan for A Healthy Los Angeles. The
Plan supports the scaling up of a spectrum of healthy food resources including healthy neighborhood
markets, healthy street vendor incentives, collective food purchasing among small food retailers in food
deserts, urban agriculture, community gardens, farmers markets, healthy food zones designations, and
of the food environment, food purchasing practices, diet and BMI. Public Health Nutrition, 18, pp 2220-2230.
doi:10.1017/S1368980014002742.
6

Sloane, D. Improving the nutritional resource environment for healthy living through community-based
participatory research. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2003; 18: 568-575.Ibid
7

Sloane, D., Nascimento, L., Flynn, G., Lewis, L., Guinyard, J. J., Galloway-Gilliam, L., ... & Yancey, A. K. (2006).
Assessing resource environments to target prevention interventions in community chronic disease control. Journal
of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 17(2), 146-158.
8

Lewis, L. B., Sloane, D. C., Nascimento, L. M., Diamant, A. L., Guinyard, J. J., Yancey, A. K., & Flynn, G. (2011).
African Americans access to healthy food options in South Los Angeles restaurants. American Journal of Public
Health.

good food purchasing policies among major institutions. In the Plan, communities with the greatest
health needs, such as South LA, have been prioritized. The Plan also underscores the point that it is
unreasonable to expect any one policy to be the solution to long standing complex problems.
These latest policy efforts put Los Angeles in the forefront of a growing national movement to support
healthy choices by increasing access to quality food options in all communities. From the Centers for
Disease Control and Preventions Healthy Communities Program to multiple major national and regional
foundation initiatives to hundreds of organizations in dozens of cities all around the country, people at
all levels are engaged in the difficult but rewarding process of building communities that support rather
than detract from the right to health for their residents. Nationwide, organizations across sectors are
working with communities to increase the accessibility of healthy and affordable food options, safe
spaces for physical activity, and a wealth of other health-focused amenities and resources.
While change will certainly not come easily given the deeply rooted structural inequities and
intergenerational behavior patterns that have produced the current crisisthe trend lines have begun
to reverse. Between 2009 and 2013, after at least 20 years of uninterrupted growth, the percent of
obese adults in South LA fell from 35% to 33%9. And the national trends mirror our successes locally:
researchers last year reported a 43% nationwide decline in the rate of obesity for children between the
ages of two and five years old10.

Equity should be the Priority

In South LA, residents are becoming more aware that community planning processes offer opportunities
to shape and promote positive improvements in their food landscape. They are engaged, becoming
knowledgeable and more involved in rectifying past injustices using the strategies of urban design and
land use. Improvements cant happen with one isolated policy, but preserving commercial land now is
an essential strategy for the crucial investments in healthier food options for the future.
However, increasing access to grocery stores and other healthy food outlets in communities like South
Los Angeles is about more than health. Improving the distribution of healthy food resources is about
righting past wrongs of discrimination, divestment and neglect from decades prior. For South LA
residents, healthy food access is intertwined with economic parity and dignity based on the belief that
everyone deserves to have healthy, affordable and quality food regardless of where they live not only
because it is effective in improving health outcomes ultimately, but because it is equitable.
Gwendolyn Flynn, Policy Director
Nutrition Resources Development
Community Health Councils is a non-profit community-based health promotion and health policy education organization whose
mission is to promote social justice and achieve equity in community and environmental resources to improve the health of
underserved populations
9

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology. Key Indicators
of Health by Service Planning Area; March 2013.
10

Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the
United States, 2011-2012. Jama, 311(8), 806-814.