Raven Hardison and Halina Zarate, based in SOM’s Los Angeles office, will participate in “The State of the Food Desert” on Friday, March 24th. The event, hosted by the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, centers on the issue of healthy food access in Los Angeles and reflects a collaborative effort to better understand the problems and systemic causes of “food desert” conditions, solutions for addressing them, and ways of measuring success.
Hardison, an architect, and Zarate, an urban planner, are founding members of Food Oasis Los Angeles (FOLA), a volunteer group dedicated to building “a unified hub for Angelenos to easily find healthy food.” The group is currently developing a web/mobile platform to fight against food deserts in Los Angeles County. The presentation on March 24th will include a live demonstration of the website.
FOLA defines food deserts as low-income, low-access areas in which people live more than one mile (10 miles in rural areas) from the nearest source of healthy, fresh food. The organization’s website is a centralized source of information and resources for organizations working to increase food security in the area.
Hardison and Zarate contribute time each week to FOLA, helping the group define its mission, design the website, collect data, and connect with community members. Their work aligns with the values of SOM’s City Design Practice, which supports engagement in the cities and communities it serves.
The State of the Food Desert
March 24, 2017
2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Phoenix Hall, The Center
10950 South Central Avenue
Los Angeles, California