Do ‘food deserts’ actually exist? Is there a connection between areas lacking ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food and negative health outcomes? 

The prevalence of so-called food deserts - the USDA estimates that 23.5 million people live in such areas - and their suggested link to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease have driven public policy, land use decisions, and grant-giving initiatives throughout the country, and quite prominently in Los Angeles.

However, recent research has called into question the connection between fresh food access and obesity rates, and the very existence of food deserts themselves.
 
A panel of experts including Dr. Paul Simon, Director of the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Roland Sturm, Senior Economist at RAND, and Lark Galloway-Gilliam, Executive Director of Community Health Councils, will discuss L.A.’s diet-related health challenges, the latest research on food deserts, and the tools that planners and public health professionals are using to improve diets and health outcomes in the region’s lower-income communities .

The discussion will be moderated by Jonathan Nettler, Managing Editor at Planetizen.com

Tuesday, August 20th
7-8:30 pm
Mercado La Paloma
Community Meeting Room
3655 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Free to the Public
CM Credits Available
RSVP to: [email protected]

More information can be found here