Annotated Directory of Community Resources



Community Inquiry Project: Health and Nutrition

ED 405A

Bill Colozas, Chanel Chun, Michele Yee

West Adams Community Walking Tour

After performing the interviews our group noticed that there were some serious deficiencies in our students’ diets and general health. The most widespread challenge we found during our student interviews was the popularity of fast food. We found several reasons explaining the causes of the popularity of fast food among students with the most ubiquitous explanation being the convenience and prevalence of fast food. With this in mind we decided to investigate the availability of fast food vs. healthier options in our community during our walking tour. Our group’s walking tour consisted of two main parts; with the first being a typical days trip to school and the second being meeting up with some students at a local pupusa restaurant.

The first part of the walking tour was done in order to model a “typical trip to school.” Since a significant number of our students at West Adams live in the neighborhoods south of school, near the coliseum, the bus route travelling up Vermont from the coliseum to Washington Street is very popular. Also, since students are often in a hurry to get to school it is not uncommon for them to pick up food somewhere along this route. For this reason we decided a walking tour up Vermont, from Exposition past Washington, would provide an accurate image of the types of food students have available to them. During the walk, the students were asked to identify places where it is popular for students to eat on the way to/from school, as well as on the weekends and at night. Of the food places identified the vast majority were fast food restaurants. In fact, the only places identified as being popular that were not fast food were corner stores and a Thai restaurant north of Washington named “Ocha.” However, it was made clear that this restaurant was not a day to day source of food but more of a place to go for occasions. Along the 1.5 mile route of the walking tour there were 3 main fast food restaurants identified as being popular among students. Also, the locations of these restaurants are so that they attract as much foot traffic as possible. All of the fast food locations are positioned either on the street or on a corner in the front of the shopping center making them very convenient for students on the way home whereas the healthier, and less popular options, were tucked in the back of the shopping centers almost hidden from the street. Additionally, all of the fast food restaurants identified had several advertisements outside displaying images of food with seemingly low prices next to them such as $.99 for 2 tacos at Jack in the Box. While these advertisements do not accurately depict what the average person spends at a fast food restaurant they are effective at getting people in the door. We found most of our students said they choose fast food because they believe it is cheaper than healthy food.

Another focus of this portion of the walking tour was to identify grocery stores used by students. During the interviews most students said they use “Food 4 Less” or “Smart N Final” as opposed to stores like “Ralphs” even though the quality is worse at these stores. They do this because the food is cheaper at these stores and they are willing to search through food and find products that are not expired/gone bad in order to save money. On the tour we identified the locations of 3 stores which fall into this category and only one store that falls into the “better quality” category. Additionally, there were no stores specializing in healthier or organic groceries such as Sprouts, Whole Foods, or Trader Joes. Through this portion of the walking tour we gained a realistic view of the types of food available to our West Adams community.

The second portion of the walking tour was a little bit more fun and up-beat. During this portion I was able to meet 2 students from my mentor teacher’s Health class at a local Pupusa restaurant and eat a meal with them in their neighborhood. During the interviews we asked the students about some popular local family owned restaurants and this was the first one that came up. Just to clear things up, calling this a restaurant is a little inaccurate because it is actually a house in a normal neighborhood where the owners set up a stove top and some tables and start making pupusas for local customers. One of the students who joined me said he has been going to this place since he was a little kid and they knew him by his voice on the phone. He said they have been making pupusas in the same spot for the past 20 years and they are always very busy. The food is all made by hand from ingredients purchased by the cooks themselves. Since they are only open on the weekends everything is made fresh for each weekend. This was an awesome experience and allowed me to get to know one of the assets, in terms of food culture, in the West Adams community.

Both of these portions of the walking tour gave us insight into the culture of food in the West Adams community. The first portion allowed us to get an idea of the prevalence of fast food in the area which informed our understanding of why students so often make unhealthy food choices. During this walk to school we were able to see how students are constantly bombarded with fast food restaurants and advertisements making it easy to see why they continually eat at these restaurants. The second portion of the tour allowed us to experience one of the assets this community has in terms of food. The cultural identity in the West Adams community is very strong. It exists in every aspect of their daily lives and food is no exception. However, with the demands of urban, industrial life it is becoming more and more difficult to plan and prepare meals. During our walking tour we were able to more fully understand the lives of our students and the role food plays in their lives.

Map of Community Resources

Annotated Directory of Community Resources

We limited the size of the community to the places that students said they went to. Our students are limited in their mode of transportation to certain community assets, so we kept the community assets located within reach of the students at West Adams.

Grocery Stores:

Grocery stores are a community asset because they provide an alternative to fast food with healthier and fresher food options. On the asset map, we show a range of grocery stores because Food 4 Less and Smart & Final tend to be cheaper than Ralph’s with lower quality food. Stores like Ralphs are an asset to students who want fresher food but currently shop at the cheaper grocery stores.

|Food 4 Less (): |

|1901 S Hoover St. |1748 W Jefferson Blvd. |1717 S Western Ave. |

|Los Angeles, CA 90006 |Los Angeles, CA 90018 |Los Angeles, CA 90006 |

|(213) 386-1680 |(323) 735-8317 |(323) 731-0164 |

|Ralphs: |Smart & Final: | |

|2600 S Vermont Ave. |3607 S Vermont Ave. | |

|Los Angeles, CA 90007 |Los Angeles, CA 90007 | |

|(323) 732-3863 |(323) 733-5875 | |

Taco Stands:

Although the tacos may not be the best choice for healthy food, taco stands provide home cooked meals fresher than fast food. Taco stands are located at the corners of New England St. and Washington Blvd., and Western Ave. and Washington Blvd.

Recreation Centers:

Parks and recreation centers around the West Adams community are community assets that provide students with a place to exercise. Our students mentioned the following locations as places where they might play basketball, soccer, or go swimming. The recreation centers also host fitness activities such as Zumba or Hip Hop classes, which students can enroll in.

|Normandie Recreation Center: |Hoover Recreation Center: |

|1550 South Normandie Ave. |1010 W. 25th St. |

|Los Angeles, CA 90006 |Los Angeles, CA 90007 |

|(323) 737-1181 |(213) 749-8896 |

| | |

|EXPO Center: |USC Basketball Courts: |

|3980 Bill Robertson Lane |3670 Trousdale Pkwy |

|Los Angeles, CA 90037 |Los Angeles, CA 90089 |

|(213) 763-0114 |(213) 740-8674 |

| | |

|Anderson Munger Family YMCA: | |

|4301 W 3rd St. | |

|Los Angeles, CA 90020 | |

|(213) 639-7443 | |

| | |

Health Center

The St. John’s Well Child & Family Center has two health clinics within reach of the West Adams community. The clinic provides programs for the community on health education, including nutrition. Children’s services include physical check-ups and pediatric weight management, which can inform students about their health and nutrition. The YMCA listed above also provides health education services to inform the community about nutrition and fitness.

|St. John’s Well Child & Family Center At Magnolia Place: |St. John’s Well Child & Family Center Mark Ridley-Thomas Wellness|

|1910 S. Magnolia Ave. Ste 101 |Center At Manual Arts: |

|Los Angeles, CA 90007 |4085 S. Vermont Ave. |

| |Lost Angeles, CA 90037 |

| | |

Ethnographic Conversations

We first interviewed Ms. Redd, the Culinary Arts teacher at West Adams, to get started on any information she might have on the health of the students and the community. Through Ms. Redd, we were able to get a glimpse of the food culture that exists at the school. She gave us a lot of valuable insight to the school cafeteria food, which 98% of the students qualify for the free and reduced lunch. Through her experience and her relationship with the students, she was able to tell us why these students are not eating the cafeteria food. The first reason she found was that the students simply do not like the taste of the food. Although students can complain saying that it “just doesn’t taste good”, Ms. Redd explains that this can also be due to the fact that the taste of healthy food is not what the students are used to. Ms. Redd shares that most of the students are used to the taste of junk food and fast food, which in all honesty can taste really delicious. But we find that the students have a lack of knowledge that fast food that is cheap and tasty is probably not a healthy option. So because the cafeteria food does not contain the chemicals and preservatives that make fast food tasty, students do not consider eating the cafeteria food although it is the healthier option.

The second reason why students do not eat the cafeteria food is that it is a kind of social stigma. Not eating the cafeteria food or not eating at all is the social norm during lunch break at West Adams High. Students rarely bring their own lunch or buy lunch, which leaves them to eat small snacks or eat nothing at all. Because Ms. Redd is the Culinary Arts teacher, she tries to raise awareness on healthy foods through her class and through her relationships with the students. Interestingly last year, Ms. Redd and a couple of her students actually competed and advanced to the finals for a national high school healthy cooking competition called “Cooking Up Change”. Ms. Redd and West Adams are very proud of this accomplishment and hope to continue to raise awareness and to bring healthy options to their school.

Next, we interviewed a group of 6 students in one group interview to get some personal answers on how the students view health and fitness. We asked them a range of questions and found the answers to be fascinating yet realistic. First, we asked them about the cafeteria food to see whether the things that Ms. Redd has stated are true. The students were very honest about their opinions on the cafeteria food and it is true that most of them do not eat the school food or do not eat at all. The students expressed that the school food “looks weird”, “doesn’t look fresh”, “it’s cold”, “doesn’t taste good”, etc. They did, however, tell us that they would sometimes eat the cafeteria food depending on what they’re serving. One student said that he’ll eat the food if it’s hot and named a couple of food items that he trusts from the cafeteria. More than half of the students we interviewed also supported the truth that the students don’t eat at all during school hours. When we asked the students to elaborate on this, they explained that they would eat a small breakfast before school (which starts at 8:30AM) and wait until after school to eat something again (which would be around 4:00PM). The students confessed that they sometimes get hungry during the day, but have gotten used to the long wait until the next meal.

Second, we asked them about their food choices both at home and outside their home. One question we asked them was which restaurants they go to for special events (e.g. birthday, anniversary, etc.). Interestingly all of the students named The Ocha, which is a local Thai Restaurant five minutes away from West Adams. But besides The Ocha, the students stated that they would go to restaurants outside the community if they wanted to have a nice celebration (e.g. The Grove, Downtown LA, Burbank, etc.). It is interesting to find that there are not a lot of “nice” sit-down restaurants available to the families that are within the community. We also asked the students about their grocery shopping and where their family goes grocery shopping. All of the students agreed that their families shop at Food 4 Less, which is close in distance to most of the students’ homes. We asked them why they choose to shop at Food 4 Less, and they answered that it is “cheap”. Interestingly, the students admitted that even though they know Ralphs or Vons have fresher foods or more “organic” options, they still choose to shop at Food 4 Less because of the price. One student confessed that he has to check the expiration dates on all of his purchases to make sure that it’s not expired. These answers revealed that the students and their families shop based on price rather than the health and freshness of the foods. We also learned from the student interviews that the students buy food based on convenience and taste. Due to the high number of fast food restaurants located near West Adams, the students share that it is on the way back home, cheap, and tasty. We realized that from these answers, the students do not take health into consideration.

Next we interviewed Mr. Coan who is the Assistant Athletic Director and PE Teacher at West Adams. We focused on asking him about the fitness of the students. Through this interview, Mr. Coan was able to tell us that over half of the students at West Adams are overweight and only 50% of the students passed the health fitness test in this last year. He explains that the poor community contributes to the fitness of these students because there is a lack of resources for students to have fun and safe recreation. Running and exercising isn’t the norm in poor communities and he understands that this is why most of his students are overweight and out of shape. As the Assistant Athletic Director and PE Teacher, Mr. Coan tries his best to get his students to join the sports teams at West Adams. He believes that there is a strong relationship between active involvement in sports and academics. Not only does he want to improve the health of his students, but he wants the students to do well academically.

Through these interviews, we find that there is a lack of good health and fitness among the students at West Adams and in the community. From this Community Inquiry Project, we want to find if there is a relationship between health/fitness and academic achievement. If there is, we hope that we can dive deeper into the community to understand how we can improve the physical health as well as the academic health for the students by using any or all of the resources that the community can provide.

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