Wow. I had no idea. My vision of L.A., along with many other peoples' visions, is of a health conscious, aesthetically-obsessed city full of people who would do anything to look good and be fit. So why would we have such a high incidence of obesity? There are many reasons, but a major issue, in the L.A. area, is a lack of availability of healthy food in low income areas. Prof. Michelle Levander took my group and I to a Mexican market called Mercado la Paloma, the surrounding neighborhood and an elementary school. The experience opened my eyes to how blind I had been to these parts of L.A. that look much different than my comfy, Santa Monica bungalow.
Next time you're driving into the USC area, or walking around the streets surrounding campus, take a look around at the types of businesses that populate the vicinity. Mostly fast food or convenience stores are probably what you will see. Around the neighborhood, there is only one supermarket, that for some is not practical to use due to financial hardship and lack of transportation. These people are forced to shop at the corner markets, that often lack an acceptable produce section because they do not own cars and it is too dangerous to walk the streets at night.
Luckily, there are people like Pri de Silva and Jeremiah Garza of the Healthy Eating Active Communities nonprofit organization. What they have been working on is a project that promotes healthier food in these small corner stores. They are trying to get the independent stores to bond together to form a kind of union in order to be able to buy healthier food in bulk to save money. We also met Dr. Andriette Ward and Valerie Ruelas of the Los Angeles Children's Hospital, both which specialize in studying how to treat and reduce the occurrence of diabetes in L.A. I had no idea diabetes was such an epidemic in this city, and was shocked to find out that some kids as young as 9 or 10 are getting the disease because of poor nutrition.
Tuesday opened my eyes to the realities that had been hidden behind my idealized vision of Los Angeles the last 3 years. Even though I have driven through these neighborhoods in the past, actually being there on foot, talking to the locals was an amazing experience. Everyone should get the chance to visit this area with a tour guide to fully understand the community around USC.