Los Angeles Bans New Fast Food Restaurants

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From Change
By Danny Jensen

For decades Los Angeles has been associated with drive-thrus and freeways, but a ban on new fast food restaurants aims to put the brakes on rising cases of obesity in the car-centric city.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed regulations that prohibit any stand-alone fast food establishments from opening in South Los Angeles, a region of the city that has significantly higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease compared to wealthier neighborhoods.. The ban takes a courageous step towards fighting obesity and promoting healthier eating, and the victory stands as a commendable example for similar public health campaigns.

Far from an overnight success, the new regulations are an extension of a moratorium on new fast food spots put in place by the City Council in 2008. Championed by city councilwoman Jan Perry in 2007,  the effort to limit fast food restaurants greatly benefited from the support of the South Central-based non-profit, Community Coalition, which works to provide preventative, community-centered solutions to crime, poverty, and public health concerns.  Both Perry and the Coalition observed a strong connection between the sheer volume of fast food restaurants in South L.A. – a region that includes the communities of Watts, Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills, Gramercy Park, Exposition Park, and Jefferson Park – and the disproportionate rates of obesity.


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It’s estimated that fast food outlets account for roughly 45 percent of restaurants (somewhere around 1,000) in South L.A., while in more affluent West L.A., the number drops to 16 percent. In neighborhoods dominated by greasy fare on virtually every corner and lacking in healthy food alternatives, it might not come as a surprise that 30 percent of South L.A.’s 750,000 residents are obese, twice the rate of more prosperous parts of the city, according to the Department of Health. Limiting the growth of new fast food outlets will hopefully allow for an influx of grocery stores and healthier sit-down restaurants in areas where they are greatly needed.

Critical to the success of South L.A.’s fast food ban has been the concerted efforts of members of the L.A. City Council and the Community Coalition, both of whom responded to the outcry of residents frustrated by the lack of healthy options. Additionally, the City Council of Baldwin, considered the birthplace of the drive-thru and included in the new fast food regulations, recently passed a similar ban to cut pollution and fight obesity.

Nationwide efforts to improve access to healthy food choices and keep unhealthy ones in check are undoubtedly important, but working on a local level can help make tremendous strides towards building healthier communities. The next step will be to create incentives for more supermarkets and healthier sit-down restaurants to set up shop in South Los Angeles.


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hooray to L.A.
for making this move
to save the lives
of humans,fish, foul
and those on the hooves

Karen Lyons Kalmenson