In Praise of the Corner Liquor Store

A nice piece of food desert debunkery, in the form of a gentle, evocative essay about the role played by the corner liquor store in one Hispanic neighborhood in East Los Angeles:

No one seemed to be looking for radicchio or wheat germ. People go to liquor stores because they need something small and simple, and they need it fast. In Mexico, the equivalent institution is the tiendita, the little corner store that sells things like milk, soda, and snack foods. It's a way of life. Sure, people buy liquor at a liquor store in East L.A. but it's just as often where you go when you forgot that can of jalapeños, or you need sliced white bread for a sandwich, or you need that gallon of milk. 

And some spot-on analysis of how a lot of reporting about obesity, poverty, and food deserts misses the point:

A lot of reporters writing about East L.A. seem to consider the residents there to be both more ignorant than they really are and more knowledgeable than they really are. On the one hand, you hear people talk as if the residents of East L.A. fail to grasp that a homemade stewed beef taco is healthier and cheaper than a burger and fries. Well, East Angelenos get it—they don't have a choice but to get it. They have to make food at home simply in order to save money. On the other hand, you hear people talk as if the only thing stopping residents of East L.A. from eating tofu and steamed kale for dinner is an overabundance of Yoo-Hoo chocolate drinks. That's of course not the case either. 

Lots more Reason on food deserts.