Selected case study from Why Place and Race Matter

At first glance an outsider might not think of South Los Angeles as a food desert; there are numerous corner stores, liquor stores selling snacks, and even chain supermarkets.

But many of the chain stores are inferior to their counterparts in more affluent neighborhoods. All too often, the markets are not well maintained; they smell of rotting meat and produce; and they sell molded dairy products and even packaged or canned food years past their expiration dates. In one case, community advocates discovered that expired products were being moved from stores in higher-income parts of the city to be sold in stores in underserved communities.

To address the pervasive components of structural racism in South Los Angeles—misperception of weak buying power, lender redlining, and disinvestment in this historically African American community— a resident-driven study was conducted to assess food access options in the area. Community Health Councils, Inc. (CHC), a nonprofit community-based, health promotion, advocacy, and policy organization that conducted the study, found that people in communities of color were simply unable to find the same foods in their neighborhoods as in high-income, predominantly white neighborhoods.

CHC started a strong grass-roots effort, the Neighborhood Food Watch, to ensure the availability of high-quality healthy food options in South Los Angeles. It gives residents the opportunity to hold local food vendors accountable to "standards of quality" established by the community. Stores may participate in the effort by signing a promise to abide by the standards, which include maintaining clean store environments and stocking fresh and healthy foods that meet or exceed USDA quality standards.

Monitoring includes shopping lists and store quality checklists that residents can use to assess the availability and promotion of particular food items in their neighborhoods.

Community residents also invite representatives of grocery trade associations to brainstorm ways to increase the number of markets and improve grocery stores. This increases their leverage by expanding the collection of voices that can put pressure on the stores.

"Exposure and opportunity to healthy options is what we're trying to create for people," says Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of CHC. "It's not that any store is better than nothing. Generally speaking, 'something' is not better than nothing."

Why Place and Race Matter >