SoCal Trip: Michelle Obama Will Focus On Healthy Food Access For Hispanic Communities

First Lady will spotlight commitment to build supermarkets in underserved communities from California FreshWorks Fund and Northgate González Markets...
Following on the heels of Thursday's major commitment from Goya Foods to join the Let's Move! campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama next week will continue her focus on nutrition initiatives in the Hispanic community. Mrs. Obama will bring her childhood obesity campaign to the Los Angeles area for the first time on Wednesday, Feb. 1, as she hosts an event at Northgate González Market in Inglewood that will focus on eliminating food deserts. (Above: Mrs. Obama speaking during the Goya announcement)

"The fact is that today, Hispanic neighborhoods have one-third as many supermarkets as non-Hispanic neighborhoods," Mrs. Obama said during the Goya announcement.

There are 36 Northgate González Markets sprinkled across Southern California, located "in areas where first and second generation Mexican and Hispanic nationals predominantly live," according to the company. Mrs. Obama will be joined by Mayor James Butts, Dr. Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment, and LA community leaders "to highlight progress being made to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved communities," the White House said.

Last July, as she unveiled major pledges from grocers to build or revamp stores in food deserts, Mrs. Obama announced the creation of the California FreshWorks Fund (CAFWF), a public-private financing initiative that committed to securing $200 million in funding to promote healthy food retailing in California, which would "create or retain" approximately 6,000 jobs, according to White House officials.

The CAFWF "is building a long term partnership with Northgate by providing the financing for their stores," the White House said. "Mrs. Obama’s event will showcase tangible changes being made by Northgate Gonzales Markets that will use FreshWorks financing to further prioritize healthy food retailing as they expand, create jobs, and nourish communities that otherwise lacked access to fresh affordable food."

"While one in three kids in America are overweight or obese, we know that in the Hispanic community, it’s nearly two in five," Mrs. Obama said on Thursday. As part of the Let's Move! campaign, Mrs. Obama has pledged to eradicate all of the estimated 6,500 US food deserts by 2017.

The First Lady's event will also serve to highlight the Obama Administration's efforts to create jobs and revitalize Hispanic communities, a key population for the 2012 re-elect campaign. Mrs. Obama will be in Los Angeles from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, and she will attend two Democratic National Committee fundraisers, as well as film segments for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Both appearances are to celebrate the upcoming second anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign in February.

In October of 2011, Mrs. Obama traveled to Chicago, Ill., for the first-ever Let's Move! Food Desert Summit, hosted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. For FY 2012, Congress approved $32 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, an interagency fund designed to eradicate food deserts.

*Photo by AP