Who woulda thunk it: L.A. is setting a health standard that is admirable — the city is trying to do something about an obesity crisis affecting one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. The idea is great, but I am skeptical it will work.

The local city council is banning fast food outlets in the less than privileged neighborhood of South L.A.:

A law that would bar fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles for at least a year sailed through the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday.

The council approved the fast-food moratorium unanimously, despite complaints from representatives of McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr. and other companies, who said they were being unfairly targeted.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who has pushed for a moratorium for six years, said the initiative would give the city time to craft measures to lure sit-down restaurants serving healthier food to a part of the city that desperately wants more of them.

“I believe this is a victory for the people of South and southeast Los Angeles, for them to have greater food options,” she said.

While I’m the first one outraged at the fact that poor communities are almost always left with fast food joints as their only source of affordable foods, I’m also left wondering just what people will eat if these outlets disappear. The council says it wants to “attract more sit down restaurants” to the area, but my guess is that most folks in the neighborhood won’t be able to afford those places, which would eventually leave anyway for lack of customers. On the other hand, if they were to stay, this could help spur gentrification which would make the area less affordable for current residents.

So yes, yay for L.A. for trying to do something about the problem, but unfortunately the real problem here isn’t going to change. The root is poverty, manifested in a lack of access to healthy and affordable choices.

Via / LA Times