Pompea Smith Good Cooking / Buena Cocina Nutrition Education Program
Healthy Retail Team
Since 1991, Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) has been devoted to increasing food access and enriching the health and overall quality of life for Los Angeles residents. In 2002, SEE-LA launched the Pompea Smith Good Cooking/ Buena Cocina Nutrition Education Program in service to low-income individuals in communities with a high prevalence of adult and child obesity to encourage healthy eating and physical activity.
Scroll down to learn more information about our partner retail stores.
Dedicated To Supporting Local Small Food Retailers
The Pompea Smith Good Cooking/ Buena Cocina Healthy Retail Team stands behind South Los Angeles.
Our retail team partners with small retailers that demonstrate an exemplary commitment to providing healthy food options in food swamps, neighborhoods where fast food and junk foods overwhelm or drown out healthy alternatives. Our retail efforts compliment SEE-LA’s focus on bringing fresh produce and healthy food options to low-income communities. In addition to hosting weekly farmers’ markets, by working with small food retailers in the South Los Angeles area, we ensure that access to healthy options is a daily right.
The nutrition education program and retail program work hand in hand helping community members make healthier food choices and learn how to prepare healthy meals and snacks. The retail program provides tailored assistance to retailers to increase the amount of healthy food items and fresh produce sold at partner stores. Coupled with in-store nutrition education and food demonstrations, our retail program creates the greatest impact.
We focus on principles of marketing to help level the playing field
Product
Introduce healthy food products and/or fresh produce that the community demands while also being economical to store owners.
Price
Make healthy food items price competitive to surrounding retailers and working with store owners in finding creative pricing solutions to boost their bottom line while also boosting healthy purchases.
Promotion
Create marketing materials like store front displays and signage that highlight healthy food options.
Placement
Arrange healthy food options within the store in a way that makes it easier to see and buy.
Prevalence
Increase the healthy food options across the South Los Angeles community to give people options where they live.
How It Works
After identifying our store partners, we complete a quick assessment to pinpoint areas of greatest need. We have in depth conversations with store owners and staff around current practices and their healthy store vision. We then encourage community involvement through community events hosted at the store 
and outreach to nearby community organizations and schools. The voice of community members is built in throughout the process to drive change.
Because we are responsive to the requests and needs of the store owner and community, the end results are custom- built. One of our stores experienced a doubling in produce purchases and sales while another store transformed its storefront with a beautiful new window display our retain team personally designed.
To see some of our exciting work in action- click on the tab of a corner store above!
LOOK WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO!
To see some of our exciting work in action, click on the picture tab of a corner store below:
Azteca 99¢ Plus Market
1662 1/2 E 41st St
The Azteca 99cents Plus store was approached in April 2017 to partner with SEE-LA. The store owner showed great enthusiasm for serving and meeting the needs of his community and had partnered with schools in the past to allow store educational tours. A visual and CX3 assessment were conducted where areas for interventions were identified. One immediate observation provided by SEE-LA staff was that the store has a very robust produce area yet due to the location, it can easily be overlooked upon entrance and even while shopping within the store. Also, the first impression when walking in the store is the sight of numerous racks of chips and sugar-sweetened beverages. In discussion with the owner to consider enhancing the visibility of his produce by bringing these items to the front and moving unhealthy items to the back, it was made clear that the owner did not have buy-in for interventions that would require rearranging store items. His focus was to cater to the need
for customers in a rush and wanting to grab a quick snack. Despite this, he was on board with many of the other intervention suggestions.
Central Store
10105 S Central Ave
El Quetzal Mini Market
5019 S Broadway
Windsor Hills Wine & Spirits
4431 1/2 W Slauson Ave
