CHC Food Desert to Food Oasis Policy Brief

Food Desert to Food Oasis: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South Los Angeles.

Ready access to healthy food is taken for granted in most neighborhoods. But that is not the case in South Los Angeles, where many residents must travel outside the community to find fresh and nutritious food. Food Desert to Food Oasis, released by CHC in July 2010, examines policy and systems changes the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County can adopt to attract full-service grocery stores and improve access to affordable healthy foods in what is now a food desert.

This brief is the first in a series of reports on transforming South LA's food desert. Food Desert to Food Oasis provides recommendations on policy and system changes the City and County of Los Angeles can adopt to attract healthy food retail to the South LA community and includes case studies of successful strategies from across the country. The report focuses on the development of new full-service grocery stores in under-served neighborhoods, and documents the current food resource environment in South LA and the area's market potential. The recommendations are based on a year-long analysis by members of CHC's Food Resource Development Workgroup on how to overcome barriers to new development in South LA.