City Council Puts Moratorium on New Fast Food Outlets in South LA
An interesting, and – I think – smart move by the LA City Council.
Personal responsibility and issues of economic freedom aside, South LA appears to be a “Food Desert.” A food desert is a term for low-income neighborhoods that are underserved by grocery stores – leaving residents with limited access to fresher (and healthier) food. The linkage between increased risk of obesity and poverty is well-established, so the Council’s intent to aggressively market the area to increase the range of choices is a good first step.
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Paul on 02 Aug 2008 at 3:30 pm #
In his book “Fast Food and The SuperSizing of America” Morgan Spurlock makes a point relevant to this discussion: areas with the greatest levels of poverty have the greatest numbers of fast food restaurants. Conversly, the more affluent a neigborhood, the number of fast food restaurants drops.
Additionally, the more poverty-prone a region, the less likely its inhabitants will have easy access to fresh and healthy foods.
Go figure.
Elissa on 02 Aug 2008 at 3:39 pm #
Yes, this is implicit in the introduction to the linked document on Food Deserts, which is an executive summary of a much longer report on how this situation affects public health in Chicago:
“More than a half million Chicagoans live in food deserts (areas with no or distant grocery stores) and roughly 400,000 Chicagoans live in areas with an imbalance of food choices(nearby access to fast food restaurants but no or distant grocery stores). While many of us take food options for granted, residents of the food desert often cannot choose between eating an apple instead of a candy bar, a salad instead of french fries, or fresh skinless chicken instead of deep fried, high-fat chicken.
The study found that, as communities become more out-of-balance in terms of food choices, residents are more likely to die prematurely and at greater rates from diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as suffer from obesity and hypertension.”
Rob on 02 Aug 2008 at 4:42 pm #
Just curious, but do either of you know just what demographics fast food companies use when determining where to set up shop?
Elissa on 02 Aug 2008 at 5:48 pm #
Not specifically, no. But I imagine the process looks a lot like the one summarized in this book review: http://www.amazon.com/Restaurant-Fast-Food-Site-Selection/dp/0471557161
As far as the density of fast food restaurants in poor neighborhoods is concerned, I expect that a) lower property values; b) consumer acceptance; and (especially) c) zoning have a lot to do with it. It’s likely a lot easier getting approval for placing fast food restaurants in low, vs. high-income areas. Low-income areas frequently get the shaft when it comes to decisions on where to place industrial facilities and environmentally problematic projects, for example, as the concerns of better-off “NIMBYs” typically carry more weight.