Flor’s Mini Market is a neighborhood corner store that is
one block from Thomas Jefferson High School in Historic South Central Los
Angeles. It’s a favorite among high school students who frequently stop by to
purchase a bite to eat before class or during lunchtime. Her merchandise mix is
typical of a ‘tienda’ with must have home and personal products as well as some
food and beverage inventory. Until recently, the food for sale was mostly packaged
with few healthy food options. In a community that is both a food desert (with
few healthy food retail choices) and a food swamp (categorized by a prevalence
of unhealthy food outlets), markets such as Flor’s have come to represent
unique opportunities and key potential partners in the effort to improve access
to healthy, affordable foods in South Los Angeles.
Recently, Flor joined the Community
Markets Purchasing Real and Affordable Foods (COMPRA foods) program, an
innovative food distribution system that caters to small businesses that want
to offer healthy food and leverages their collective purchases to secure better
prices and quality products from wholesalers. During the first delivery of fresh
produce last week, Flor was approached by a dynamic group of high school students
known as the Community Health Liaisons
(CHL). As part of National
Health Foundation’s (NHF’s) BUILD
Health L.A. Initiative, CHL youth
work with neighborhood markets to help corner store owners
introduce healthy produce, and better merchandise fresh fruits and vegetables.
CHL’s help store owners make small, gradual changes by providing technical
assistance that can help overcome the challenge of introducing new inventory
and taking on new risk.
Two CHL youth, Ariana Vega and Melissa Villarruel, ‘adopted’
Flor’s Mini Market to help the store owner adjust to the demands of selling
perishable healthy produce and help to ensure changes are profitable and
sustainable, with the overall goal of increasing the availability of fresh,
quality fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood. During this initial
meeting, the CHL’s helped Flor inventory produce shipment and begin using
marketing strategies to promote fruits and vegetables in-store. Together they carved out space in the store
for the produce and used baskets and other materials to entice consumers to
consider adding fresh fruits and vegetables to their purchases. Within a week,
the students will check back with Flor see how things are going and modify
their strategies as needed.
The students are keenly aware of the alarming prevalence of obesity,
heart disease and diabetes in their community. For NHF, the BUILD Health Initiative
presents an opportunity for partners to come together and improve the health of
the community from within. By working with local high schools, NHF is able to
directly connect with the energy of youth from the community. NHF brings CHL
youth together with community partners such as Leadership
for Urban Renewal Network (LURN), Los Angeles Food Policy Council, and Los
Angeles Department of Public Health among others to share knowledge and to
craft innovative solutions to build a healthier South Los Angeles overall. The students will continue to monitor their efforts
to glean important outcomes, however, their efforts have already been well
received by storeowners and the community alike.
For Ariana and Melissa, the experience of working with Flor
left them inspired, “I felt really good
knowing that we would be able to help her not only to sell her produce but also
some of the other merchandise in her store,” shared Ariana. Melissa had this to
say about her experience, “The level of excitement I had from helping Flor was
inexplicable, it felt as if I were riding a roller coaster, or the feeling when
you just learn to drive; it felt great!”
To read Ariana’s account of her work with Flor, please click here.
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