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Nutritional Struggles Worsen for Some Louisiana African Americans During
Pandemic

Matt Haines

   NEW ORLEANS, LA. - Maintaining a balanced diet has never been easy in
   Desire, a predominantly African American neighborhood in New Orleans,
   Louisiana, but it has become nearly impossible during the pandemic.

   "We've always had inequality problems to deal with, but coronavirus has
   made it worse," high school junior Chrishana Simon said. "The stakes
   are so much higher now."
   Despite being a hub of gastronomic pursuits much celebrated for its
   Cajun cuisine, Louisiana ranks near the bottom of U.S. states in
   providing its residents access to healthy and affordable food,
   according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In New Orleans, the
   nonprofit group Feeding America estimated 85,000 residents - 22% of the
   population - were unable to find or afford fresh food in their
   communities. Those residents were disproportionately likely to be
   black.
   "My family and I are afraid to go to the grocery store," Simon
   explained. She said a trip for fresh groceries would involve a bus trip
   across town and entering a busy supermarket, both of which could expose
   them to the virus. Fearing especially for the health of her
   grandfather, they have limited shopping to quick runs to a neighborhood
   convenience store, where Simon is more likely to find chips and soda
   than fruits and vegetables.
   "For the first month of the pandemic we lived off of canned foods and
   rice and beans," she added. "We had no better choice."
   The consequences of nutritional deficiencies are impossible to miss -
   especially during the pandemic, according to Connor DeLoach of Top Box
   Foods, a nonprofit that provides fresh produce and other goods at
   heavily discounted prices in New Orleans and elsewhere.
   "If you aren't putting healthy food in your body, the long-term effects
   can be seriously detrimental," he said. "New Orleanians have higher
   rates of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes than the national
   average and these are all conditions that make individuals more
   susceptible to coronavirus' most intense symptoms."
   In Louisiana, where black people make up about one-third of the
   population, Gov. John Bel Edwards said last month they accounted for
   more than 70% of the state's coronavirus deaths. The majority of these
   fatalities were recorded in New Orleans.

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