Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Every month outside a church in the Pico-Union District of Los Angeles, hundreds of low-income residents line up for free food. But unlike at other food banks across the city, they won’t find any ham or fried chicken here — just nutritious, plant-based food.
Vegans of LA Food Bank is the first such effort in Los Angeles, and the brainchild of Gwenna Hunter, a local community organizer who started the food bank in 2022 and has seen it grow steadily since then.
“The mission of the Vegans of LA Food Bank is to provide nutritious, plant-based food to our communities, while promoting planetary unity and advocating for the right to healthy meals for all,” Hunter said. “I believe that there should be free food resource centers in every ZIP code like there are fast-food restaurants and liquor stores.”
The food bank sets up shop on the third Thursday of every month in front of United University Church at 2208 S. Union Ave. That’s where Pastor Sunny Kang offers the space for Hunter and her team of volunteers.
The food comes from several sources, including the “food rescue” groups Food Forward, Food Finders and Hollywood Food Coalition. Donations have been provided at various times by Whoa Cookie Dough, All Vegetarian Inc., Chobani, Just Egg, Hungry Planet and Support + Feed among others.
Hunter also manages a budget provided through public donations and grants that allows her to purchase fresh wholesale fruits and vegetables from What’s Good Produce.
Food scraps and leftovers go to sanctuary animals and to compost, creating what the organizers call a “closed-loop system,” mitigating methane and reducing emissions.
Hunter told a reporter she serves about 1,400 people each month, more than double the total when she began. She says 90% of those served earn less than $30,000 a year.
Asked if the vegan food has led them to desire a more vegan, vegetarian or planted-based diet, 39% say “frequently,” and 50% say “occasionally or at times,” according to Hunter.
“We are fortunate to have a community that verbally expresses their gratitude for the offerings. There is a steady out-loud exchange of appreciation during distribution,” she said. “As for feedback, we’ve conducted surveys and the community is very happy with the selections and of course would love even more if provided.”
Organizers point out that food insecurity remains one of the biggest problems in Los Angeles, and health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer disproportionately affect low-income communities that may not have equal access to healthy food choices.
Hunter says her own journey to veganism began with a dream she had in 2016.
“In the dream, I was flying. I looked down and saw the most beautiful cow,” she told Los Angeles Magazine in 2023. “She looked up at me, and it’s like there were two tunnels. I went through one, and when I did, I possessed the cow’s consciousness. We merged and became one.
“I experienced her life: being a mom, how they view humans. When I woke up, I was crying: ‘Cows love, and we look at them as food.’ Then I was like, ‘If cows love, then pigs and chickens love too.’ How had I not considered this?”
During the coronavirus pandemic, she provided free groceries to the community through social-justice organizations such as Black Women For Wellness, Black Women Farmers of L.A., Black Lives Matter, KRST Unity Center of Afrakan and Downtown Crenshaw.
“We would give people kale, collards, all types of vegetables and fruits. People were coming back saying it was changing their meals and bodies,” she told LA Magazine. “One lady had lost a lot of weight — she said, ‘I’ve never cooked with this many vegetables in my life!’ She’s like, ‘I’m not all the way vegan [now], but I’m vegan most days.’ She was able to walk further, and, with her diabetes, the blood-sugar levels had improved.”
Hunter and the food bank have been recognized by Mayor Karen Bass, and she was a finalist for LA Work’s LA Civic Leadership Health and Impact Leadership Awards in 2023.
Her team — which includes communications director Paige Parsons Roache and a handful of volunteers — also sponsors a vegan food outreach program at the historic West Presbyterian Church in L.A., and operates pop-up food banks several times a year at the Obama Global Preparation Academy and South LA Best Buy Teen Tech Center. And she’s collaborating with the Office of Basic Needs at USC by implementing cooking classes for students who may be dealing with food insecurity.
The monthly food bank has been successful, but the challenge now is to keep up with demand.
“We need more funding,” Hunter said. “The lines are growing and we want to be able to provide all of the families that show up with enough to get them through a couple of weeks.”
Those interested in donating to the effort can do so at givebutter.com/0GytVQ. More information about the food bank can be found at vegansofla.com.
Hunter sees the food bank as a “solution to those who are experiencing the challenges of meeting their basic dietary needs.”
“By providing the community with the nutritional resources to thrive, along with educational materials on the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, we are committed to building healthy, compassionate communities, working towards a more sustainable future for the planet, the animals, and the entire human race,” she said.
David Weiner is a reporter for City News Service.
