Some fast-food restaurants have already begun raising prices to compensate for higher minimum wages for workers, and Los Angeles residents living in so-called food deserts now have fewer affordable dining options.
In the West Adams neighborhood near Crenshaw Boulevard and 28th Street, it's faster to stop at fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, Yoshinoya, and Taco Bell than to buy groceries at Smart and Final several blocks away. people say.
“It's convenient for me to come here.” [Taco Bell] Or McDonald’s,” said Jose Castillo, who lives in South Los Angeles. “Sometimes, when I feel tired, I go get a hamburger.''
But with fast food prices likely to rise, those who frequent fast food restaurants will have to think about how they will feed themselves and their families.
“I don't have a lot of income, so it's economical,” Janet Contreras said in Spanish, echoing the concerns of other South L.A. residents about fewer affordable food options.
Other than Smart & Final on Crenshaw Boulevard, there are no other grocery stores within a one-mile radius.
Consumers like Castillo and Contreras said they don't know what affordable meal alternatives are out there and may need to start considering eating out less frequently. .
“If you're getting paid more, that's a good thing. And you're also increasing people's incomes, potentially moving them out of food insecurity and helping them make ends meet,” said Kayla de la Haye, director of the USC Institute for Food Systems Equity. said. “But at the same time, we need to make food, especially healthy food, accessible and affordable.”
Employees at the Taco Bell location in West Adams confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that menu additions are planned in the near future.
