Fair Trade Los Angeles

Pompea Smith of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) writes in today’s LA Times about the need for fresher, healthier food in wide swaths of Los Angeles:

Supermarkets are one of the few reliable providers of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are crucial to a healthy life. Yet South Los Angeles has one supermarket for every 28,000 residents. By comparison, Los Angeles County as a whole has a supermarket for every 18,000 residents.

So where are people getting their food? In the vast stretch between the 10 and 105 freeways, the majority of food outlets are liquor shops, convenience stores or fast-food chains. Another assessment of food availability, this one in 2004 by the nonprofit Community Services Unlimited, captured a grim snapshot: In a 1.5-square-mile segment of South Los Angeles, there were eight restaurants, 50 fast-food outlets and 39 liquor stores. The four grocery stores were clumped together, beyond walking distance of much of the survey area.

Of course, the available choices are processed foods (full of subsidized corn products) and other unhealthful alternatives. And the consequences are severe:

South L.A.’s food environment abets [heart disease and diabetes] the same way chemical-laced dumps spawn cancer and smog-choked cities aggravate asthma.

SEE-LA is continuing its work to make produce more accessible to the less-wealthy areas of Los Angeles by opening farmers markets like its newest in Watts, and pushing to have more farmers markets accept food stamps. SEE-LA is also partnering with FTLA in planning for our upcoming Just Lives Festival – at the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday, September 30.