First Lady Speaks at Northgate Gonzalez Site

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — First Lady Michelle Obama spoke here Wednesday — at the future site of a Northgate Gonzalez Market — as part of her effort to bring healthy foods to food deserts in low-income communities.

The store — which is scheduled to open next summer in a Hispanic neighborhood — is being financed by part of a $20 million loan from the California Fresh Works Fund, a public-private partnership designed to bring supermarkets to underserved areas.

Northgate Gonzalez, based in Anaheim, Calif., opreates 34 stores in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The loan will help the company open three stores: one that opened last year in the San Diego area; the Inglewood store; and a location in South Los Angeles that is scheduled to open next year.

Obama said the initiative, announced last year as part of the "Let's Move" campaign, is making a dent in the high rate of obesity and weight-related illnesses in inner cities.

A Northgate Gonzalez spokesman said the chain has launched a campaign called "Viva la Salud!" (Long Live Health!), which puts special tags on foods deemed healthy, such as olive oil rather than lard; it also holds in-store cooking classes to raise consumer awareness of healthy alternatives, and it plans to launch a program to help high school students develop healthy school lunch recipes.