Healthier Eating in East LA

LA County's Health Department has found that 25 percent of the people in East LA have high cholesterol and 30 percent suffer from hypertension, both tied to obesity and the threat of heart disease. So the UCLA-USC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities has been transforming selected stores, including Yash La Casa Market at Hammel Street and Hazard Avenue. With $25,000 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, they painted the store a neon-lime color, took beer signs off the front windows and planted a 600-square-foot garden out back.