Great business opportunity in South L.A.!

[Lawman]

Maybe we'll see Delmonico's there..

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,393062,00.html

 

"This fast-food really fattens them up."

 

[90%angel]

Yeah I saw a similar article the other day, I think in the WSJ. It's just dumbfounding to me that politicians love to blame fast food places (instead of, oh, I don't know...the consumer! If people want to eat crap, they're going to eat crap...this just makes it less convenient for everyone) Besides, fast food places can be healthier than chain restaurants. As I sent to Russell when I forwarded him the article I read:

 

Yard House:

Cheeseburger: 1160 cals, 75g fat

 

 

McDonalds Big Mac:

540 Cals, 29g fat

 

Even a Caesar salad at the Yard House (with only 2TBS of dressing…and, yeah right that’s all they put on) is 595 cals and 36g fat.

 

So, tell me again how this is helping me?

I need to pay more for a hamburger that is twice as lethal and takes longer to get?

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

"This fast-food really fattens them up."

 

Haven't you seen the YouTube videos of fast food cramming itself down these peoples' throats?

 

Man, there's everything wrong with the city council's approach. You have to ask why businesses that sell healthy foods aren't there; the obvious answer is that there's no market for them.

 

And for the purposes of a ban, how do you define "fast food restaurant?" If it's "anyone who sells french fries," well, that's a lot more than just McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's. And Taco Bell doesn't sell french fries at all. And frankly, most of these places don't assemble your food items until you actually order them; it ain't like it used to be.

 

Another quote from the article:

 

South LA residents lack healthy food options, including...full-service restaurants with wait staff and food prepared to order.

 

I don't believe a wait staff and made-to-order food makes the difference. Next time you stop at Chili's, Appleby's, and/or TGI Friday's, browse the menu a bit: half-pound burgers, giant steaks, mountains of french fries, oversized desserts with scary quantities of sugar and fat. There are token healthy offerings on these menus, but I believe they're seldom chosen; if they were chosen more often, you'd see them occupying a larger portion of the menu.

 

On a slightly more different tack, New York City recently required restaurants to list calorie content in the menu next to each item. People are shocked, and some are actually upset; they literally would rather not know what they are eating!

 

Forced to choose between the two approaches, I prefer NY's approach: give people information and let them make their own decisions.

[Matts_12GS]

It's cultural too. Anyone seen this yet?

 

Fat Princess

[smiller]

"Our communities have an extreme shortage of quality foods,"

Isn't there also a shortage of entry-level jobs? Seems like eliminating many of them may not be very good for the community either.

[TyTass]

If people want to eat crap, they're going to eat crap...this just makes it less convenient for everyone) Besides, fast food places can be healthier than chain restaurants.

Oh so true! Have you noticed what passes for fine dining at many of the pub grub chains? A large slab of meat, covered with cheese and with butter in between. My arteries just harden thinking about it. But that said, I have no desire for the government to "do" anything about those either. In my view, it's not their place to "do" anything about any of these businesses except ensure they are clean and are not defrauding anyone.

 

I could however lean toward what Mitch suggested: Let me know what you're serving me.

[Husker Red]

I saw an article on the evening news about this topic a few months ago. That article focused on the lack of grocery stores in that area relative to fast food joints. I would think that it's much cheaper to buy groceries than fast food, so why don't grocery stores do well in poor neighborhoods? What's the disincentive to grocery stores to locate there?

[Matts_12GS]

Here in our neck of north Florida, there was a large grocery store downtown, near bus lines, easy distance for many to get to even those w/o cars.

 

The store was facing such high operating costs because of property crime, stolen carts, customers intimidated by local gangs and panhandlers, frequent robberies, etc that the company decided to shut the store down.

 

Local politicos decried the move as racist, etc. but in the end, said chain declared bankruptcy and closed the store. In many cases, I wouldn't be surprised to find a similar story around many such neighborhoods.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

The store was facing such high operating costs because of property crime, stolen carts, customers intimidated by local gangs and panhandlers, frequent robberies, etc that the company decided to shut the store down.

 

That was kind of my suspicion. It's much easier to secure a small corner store (or fast food restaurant) without any grocery carts than it is to secure a large grocery store w/carts.

 

In order for a big grocery store to be profitable in a high-crime area, the city would have to subsidize it by offering a continuous police presence in the parking lot, or possibly even inside the store.

 

Try to imagine a farmer's market some Saturday morning in a place like Compton...

[Tony_K]

A a native Angelino I am very familiar with this city.

 

Everything Matt said is spot in most urban cities where poverty comes into play.

Investors have a hard time justifing profit loss for attempting to do a good deed for a community even if that deed is heavily subsidized.

 

Remember the L.A. riots? I do. I also saw near a decade of burned out businesses in south L.A and surrounding areas after that event. A full decade in some areas because it was far too apparent to business owners that you will gain nothing from being here.

 

Don't forget when the Lakers win a championship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[leikam]

Clearly the residents of South Central (ooops... South LA) should be bussed to the west side for their grocery shopping. I can see it now.

[Joel]

Clearly the residents of South Central (ooops... South LA) should be bussed to the west side for their grocery shopping. I can see it now.

 

Me too: big yellow buses pulling up in front of Whole Foods Markets in Santa Monica or Westwood. Salad and hot food bar: $8.99/lb. Watching the mingling that ensues: priceless. :smirk: