By Jasmin, Cinthia, and Juven
Obesity: At Fruitvale, we could see a lot of obesity. Knowing the community, we think that the main cause for obesity is that people around there don't really know about how what you eat, and how much you eat makes you gain weight. People make unhealthy choices.
Accessibility: During our visit to Fruitvale, we could see that there is some accessibility for handicapped people, but not enough. Not all streets have ramps in the sidewalks for wheelchairs. How do they get around Fruitvale without going into the streets or getting run over?
Fast foods and farmers markets: While walking in the Fruitvale community, we could see that there was not enough farmers markets that sell organic food and healthy foods, like in Walnut Creek. One thing that we could see in the Fruitvale community was that there were more than 10 fast-food restaurants for example, McDonald’s, Jack In The Box, Pollo Loco, and fast taco restaurants.
Health stores: In the Fruitvale community, there are not a lot of Health Stores, but there are about three Health clinics that help people with no health insurance, or people who don't have a lot of money, but even though these clinics try to help, people don’t attend them a lot because they think they might pay a lot. There should be more information given to the community about being healthy, and it needs to be in Spanish and other languages.
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2 comments:
I enjoyed reading your article!! Excellent observations! -- from a neighbor who lives near Fruitvale
Your observations are very perceptive and eye-opening...thank you so much for sharing them!
I definitely think that the limited availability/accessibility of healthy food places is a really big problem.
Many of the points you made are relevant here in southern California, too. I've noticed that in nicer, more upscale areas in south Orange County, there are very few fast food restaurants. Instead, there are many healthy, organic specialty grocery stores and restaurants. Around where I grew up (in Anaheim/Garden Grove), I remember there never being many healthy food options.
Everyone - regardless of where they live - deserves access to good, healthy food at affordable costs, and I know people who have tried to make that happen. For example, a couple of years ago, the nurse at the school where I teach was passing around a petition to get a Trader Joe's in the area...There was a lot of interest, but unfortunately, nothing ever happened.
On a positive note, though, many "Fresh and Easy" grocery stores (that sell mostly healthy/organic food) have been popping up in many of the lower income neighborhoods in Orange County and Los Angeles very recently, so hopefully this idea will catch on.
Thanks again! Keep up the good work.
-Esther, Orange County
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