CLP date01-07-2011

Today PALOMA meet for the first time, two LA CAUSA staff members and four LA CAUSA YouthBuild students . We meet every Friday from 12:30-4:00pm and work on transforming a corner store in East Los Angeles from a junk food store into a hub of healthy food. We began with a discussion of Food deserts and how it affects our community and people’s health.  A Food Desert is a district with little or no access to healthy foods needed to maintain a healthy diet but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants.  Students were not familiar with the word “food deserts”, but they are very familiar with the concept. They started by describing their own market trips experiences and how they have to travel long distances to purchase food. One student has to drive 2 miles to go shop at a 4 For Less.  They also described the food that is available, including not-so fresh fruits and veggies and a variety of junk food.  By the end our discussion the students became more vocal and passionate about the issue of Food Deserts.  We can wait to began our transformation!