Asians have the hardest time accessing healthy, palate-friendly food, according to the first study in Los Angeles County to combat nutrition insecurity.
USC researchers found that Asian residents in the county were twice as likely to suffer from nutritional insecurity as white residents.
What is “nutritional insecurity”?
Nutrition insecurity is increasingly recognized as a problem as critical as food insecurity – when people do not have the money to buy enough food.
In contrast, people with nutritional insecurity may be able to afford groceries but struggle to obtain healthy foods that meet their cultural, religious or dietary needs.
This can lead people to turn to processed foods that are higher in fat and empty calories, contributing to health problems ranging from depression to diabetes.
“We now really understand that poor nutrition has a lot to do with the food environment that we live in, rather than the poor health choices that people make,” said Kayla de la Haye, who directs the USC Institute for Food System Equity.
Looking for bok choy
The study didn’t explore why Asians have the hardest time getting healthy foods. But de la Haye noted that even in a place as diverse as Los Angeles County, some Asian residents live in areas where their favorite foods and ingredients aren’t readily available.
Take Chinatown, for example. In recent years, Asian supermarkets have closed or left the neighborhoods, forcing older residents to adapt to their consumption patterns.
“They may have to travel further,” Mr. de la Haye said. “Or the types of foods they are looking for may not be as accessible to them.”
Leaders of local food equity advocacy organizations were not surprised by the study’s results.
Alba Velasquez, executive director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Councilsaid he only has to look at full-service grocery stores to see the problem: They don’t carry a wide range of Asian products and ingredients.
“Japanese radish, bitter melon, bok choy, taro, eggplant,” Velasquez said. “When we think about access to healthy food, unfortunately we don’t talk about these culturally relevant foods.”
Improve nutrition
Velasquez says the study underscored the need to ensure Asian fruits and vegetables are included in food assistance programs — the work of organizations that focus on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities such as API Forward Movement.
Another way to improve access to healthy food among Asians is to promote farmers’ markets and provide language assistance there. Action Against Hunger in Los Angeles established a weekly market in West Adams, which is popular with Korean seniors.
Bilingual staff help clients with their CalFresh benefits, the state’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, said Frank Tamborello, director of Hunger Action.
“Our Korean volunteers who work at the market say that a lot of people are very isolated,” Tamborello said. “They’re monolingual. They don’t have other family members who are back in the United States.”
Other key findings
The study, recently published in Journal of Nutritionsurveyed more than 1,000 people in 2022. It also found:
24% of county residents were food insecure and 25% were nutrition insecure. Food and nutrition insecure people accounted for 14%.
Hispanic residents were twice as likely to be nutritionally insecure as white residents.
Adults aged 40 and under had the highest rates of nutrition and food insecurity of all age groups.
Tamborello said the study’s results are consistent with the increasing trend in food insecurity.
“Health care costs are high, as are rents: these are the main factors that affect access to food,” Tamborello said. “And now there is inflation.”
Have a question about Asian American communities in Southern California?
Josie Huang reports on the intersection of Asian and American identities and the impact of these growing communities in Southern California.
