McDonald's. Yoshinoya. Crazy Chicken. Little Caesars. Panda Express. Taco Bell. And not a supermarket in sight.
On a six-lane stretch of traffic-choked Crenshaw Boulevard, the dining options on display highlight a problem South Los Angeles has long faced — and one that could get worse when the minimum wage for fast-food workers increases. from $16 to $20 next year. April 1st.
About 40% of South Los Angeles residents live in a food desert, according to the USC Institute for Food System Equity. That means they reside in an area where there is limited access to healthy, affordable food because there is no supermarket nearby. For many people in the 51-square-mile region, fast food plays an important role in daily nutrition. And it's likely to get more expensive, as chains plan to raise prices to partially offset rising labor costs as a result of the new wage law.
Sitting in her car in the shadow of the McDonald's on Crenshaw, Roshonda Baker was angry about the impending price increases, which are expected to range between 4% and 5%.
Fast food restaurants on Crenshaw Boulevard, including El Pollo Loco.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“I can definitely see this having an effect on families,” said Baker, 41, a caregiver for psychiatric patients. “Kids want fast food; In reality, they don't like home-cooked food. So… you have to deal with an annoying kid who can’t get it if you can’t afford it.”
Baker, who lives nearby, said he doesn't like fast food, but his 3-year-old grandson, who was jumping on his lap at the time, eats it. “He loves chicken nuggets,” she said. To save money, Baker plans to try giving him more home-cooked food. Imagining a $12 fast-food meal that could soon cost $13 or more, he lamented, “The consumer doesn't gain from it.”
The Times contacted eight fast-food chains, including the six represented in Crenshaw. Some declined to comment, others did not respond to interview requests, and some provided statements acknowledging that price increases are imminent. “Slightly increasing menu prices will allow us to help our franchisees, many of whom are former employees who began their careers as restaurant workers, provide a better customer experience,” said San Diego-based Jack in the Box , it's a statement.
Not everyone plans to moderate their fast food consumption if prices rise.
“Honestly, I wouldn't change anything, no,” said Jacky Grant, a DoorDash driver stopping by a Little Caesars in Crenshaw to pick up a cheese pizza for her son. “It's good that they are increasing their salaries.”
An Albertsons on Crenshaw Boulevard.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Other interviewees said more or less the same. Economists and public health experts noted that eating habits are difficult to change and food deserts offer few options that allow consumers to change things. They said fast food companies are experts at calibrating price increases so as not to lose too many customers.
“Price is a factor” people consider when evaluating their options, said Kayla de la Haye, director of the USC Institute for Food System Equality. “Whether it's convenient, whether kids eat it, whether it's delicious, those are really important factors as well. In South Los Angeles, they have much more restricted food options. There is a historic lack of investment in your community. And that’s part of the reason these grocery stores don’t exist.”
While there are a few grocery stores near the franchise cluster in Crenshaw, fast food fills the biggest void in South Los Angeles. “That's food that's been available and affordable,” De la Haye said, “so it's not especially surprising that that's where people go and they might be willing to pay more for it.”
The new law, which applies to franchises and corporate stores, covers workers at chains with more than 60 locations in the U.S. Fast food companies are also expected to enact layoffs, turn to automation and reduce hours of workers in an effort to curb cost increases caused by the increase in the minimum wage.
Matt Haller, president of the International Franchise Association, said in a statement that the average quick-service restaurant “faces increasing operating costs of about $250,000, resulting in unaffordable food prices for customers, job cuts and many small businesses struggling to survive.” its doors open.”
Of course, it is possible to increase prices too much. “If you want to reach those who are most likely to eat there… [people who] They generally have lower incomes; they can’t raise prices too much,” said Shon Hiatt, associate professor of management and organization at the USC Marshall School of Business. “Or they move to a different demographic [and] The volume is not there.”
But David M. Smith, an economics professor at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business, said the lack of food options in South Los Angeles would make it easier for fast-food companies to “pass on” their higher costs, with Possibly serious effects on some people.
“It will potentially put consumers in … higher financial risk areas at even greater risk of suffering unexpected financial emergencies,” he said.
The upcoming price increases present something of a paradox in low-income communities. South Los Angeles has one of the highest concentrations of people living in poverty in the region, and they are now expected to have to spend more on food. According to a 2018 report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, South Los Angeles was the area with the highest rate of food insecurity in the county.
“The people paying for the increase are, at best, in the same socioeconomic class as the people receiving the wage increase,” said Brian Wheaton, an economist at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. “It is less likely in South Los Angeles than the [increased] The minimum wage is producing the redistributive benefits that its advocates want to see.”
Traffic flows along Crenshaw Boulevard at the intersection with Florence Avenue in South Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
In Crenshaw, Alberto Corona jumped out of his car and headed to a Yoshinoya restaurant to buy food for a grandson, who can't eat the spicy Mexican food prepared by his wife. Corona was seduced by the chain's coupons. He wistfully recalled decades past, when places like Yoshinoya were “a lot cheaper.”
“It's something we can't control,” said Corona, 46, who works in construction.
Corona said he doesn't eat much fast food and might eat even less as a result of higher prices. In any case, he prefers his wife's home-cooked food.
“It's healthier than this kind of food,” he said.
He then smiled and walked towards Yoshinoya.
