Can Fast Food Restaurants Fill The Gap In Food Deserts?

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Popular chef Daniel Patterson believes his new fast-food chain, loco’l, set to open in Tenderloin, Calif. in 2015, will help address the issue of food deserts in urban areas.

The low-cost menu in his new chain will cater to low-income households where items will range from two to six dollars and compete with large chains, like McDonalds and Taco Bell’s dollar menus. Items on the menu will include healthier made Burgers will be considered healthier as they will be partially made with tofu and grain. Veggie bowls, falafel, tacos, salads and rice bowls will all be part of the menu with fresh seasonal ingredients.

Patterson decided to open his first restaurant in Tenderloin, where his charity, The Cooking Project is located. The Cooking Project is a non-profit, community-based organization that helps low-income kids learn how to cook healthy meals at home.

Chef Patterson is a transformative business developer in helping families discover that healthy foods can be convenient and affordable. Latino families need healthy options, especially if they live in food deserts, where healthier food options can potentially cost more.

Chef Roy Choi, Patterson’s business partner, was quoted in a recent article about his speech at L.A’s hunger crisis, stating that kids who live in poverty stricken areas are living where convenience stores sell “corrosive chemical waste”, which he hopes to change. Choi and Patterson are wanting to open the door to the idea that fast food can be healthy food for low-income families, changing what they call “nasty, cheap, addictive foods”, to cheap healthful versions.

This idea to change the culture of fast food is blossoming with other fast food chains like Amy’s Fast food and Earth Burger, where healthy food is not just for the elite. Patterson believes this to be true, as he had stated in an article back in 2009 with the Financial Times, that quality versus affordability is a false debate in food.

Changes like these in the fast food culture may help Latino families dependent on easily accessible local food sources, to discover more healthy, yet fast and affordable options.

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