Photos and Videos
This is a documentary video of a Community Food Assessment of Corona (2007) that was conducted by FoodChange and the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship.
We were shocked by the information they found through their research. Although we already knew about Corona’s food access problem, this video gave us a visual and tangible example of how deprived the community of Corona is. Our group wanted to experience this issue first-hand so we conducted our own community food assessment of Corona. We thought that the condition of the bodegas and the availability of fresh food would’ve improved slightly because its been 9 years since this documentary was published. However, we found Corona to be the same desolate, fresh food lacking community as it was 9 years ago.
After the a few minutes of strolling 108th st., we began to see bodega after bodega after bodega.
It wasn’t long before we lost count of how many bodegas we’ve seen. We stopped taking pictures because we thought we would run out of iPhone memory before we got to the end of the street. In the midst of of these unhealthy food providers, we weren’t able to find a single store that sold a variety of fresh foods.
It’s blatantly obvious that the majority of the people suffering from this issue are low-income hispanic and black families. Almost all of these stores had “We accept food stamps” signs placed in readily visible locations, in front of the cash register or on the window. For hardworking families that don’t have time to travel 20 or 30 minutes to the nearest supermarket, the unhealthy foods available in bodegas are their only option.
But what does the inside of a Corona bodega look like?
Like the documentary from 2007, we found shelves full of canned foods, unhealthy snacks, and sugary beverages, but no fresh food. Not even one piece of fruit or vegetables.
The situation was the same with the next bodega we went into
Again, nothing but canned foods, filled with harmful preservatives, and fattening snacks. I could imagine school children coming here after school everyday, gradually contributing to future health issues.
We found some traces of healthy food at our next bodega, but nothing close to what we would consider “normal”
We know the canned foods and chips are unhealthy, but we would think twice before buying these bananas and onions. After closely examining this “fruit and vegetable corner”, we found no evidence of quality control or regulated restocking.
After walking around for about an hour, we finally found a store, far removed from our starting point, that sold fresh food.
We were happy to see a store that sold fruits and vegetables, but then we realized how long it too to actually get here. A normal working class parent in Corona wouldn’t have the time or energy to walk this far after work then lug their groceries back home.
