Gwenna Hunter is doing her part to battle food insecurity with The Vegans of L.A. Food Bank. Launched in May 2022, the program offers fresh produce and vegan options to residents of Los Angeles on the third Thursday of every month. It is the only vegan food bank that currently operates in the city of Los Angeles.
According to a press release, Hunter, who runs The Vegans of L.A. Food Bank alongside United University Church Pastor Sunny Kang, feeds more than 600 LA residents within three hours when she and her team set up shop in front of their headquarters on Union Avenue. They have also partnered with the West Presbyterian church in L.A. to distribute healthy vegan food to the community.
“When I started this a year ago, I knew I wanted to give people what their bodies need: healthy food on a contiguous basis minus our planets’ animals,” Hunter said. “The need and desire for plant-based nutrition is tremendous!”
When Angelenos pull up to The Vegans of L.A. Food Bank, residents leave with a full bag of local fruits and veggies. Grains, beans, and plant-based products are also given to needy residents. Chobani, Omni Foods and Califia Farms are some of the big companies that have donated their products to help Hunter’s significant cause.
Food Insecurity was a huge problem in 2022.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2022, around 12.8% (17.0 million) of U.S. households were food insecure and struggling to provide enough food for members of their families. Last year, the food insecurity rate was “significantly higher” than in 2021, averaging 10.2% compared to 3.8%. The report noted that 36.7% of households impacted by food security were living below the federal poverty line. Black, Hispanic and single-parent households were hit the hardest.
During an interview with USA Today in August, Hunter went into detail about the origin story of her life-changing food bank. The community leader said she was one of the millions of Americans going through “economic challenges” in 2022. Hunter knew she had to do something to bring change to her community.
“So many people here are vegan, and so many people eat plant-based. And there’s also so many people here that are going through economic challenges because of how much the rent is and things like that. I was one of those people at one point, so I’m like, we gotta have a vegan food bank in this city, and I guess it’s gonna be me that’s gonna get us started,” the vegan activist told USA Today.
With little to no income, Hunter had no clue how she would get her food bank off the ground.
“It became so overwhelming that it was giving me anxiety because I’m like, ‘Okay, this is a lot of money, and I have $0. I can do a GoFundMe, and I’m good at getting a $1,000 or $2000 here and there, but I realized I was gonna need thousands upon thousands of dollars,” she continued.
“I got so overwhelmed, so I just called out to the universe, and I’m like, ‘Look, if I’m supposed to do this, I need your help.'”
Hunter eventually crossed paths with Pastor Sunny Kang, who expressed interest in collaborating on a vegan food program at the University of Southern California.
“He said, ‘Instead of starting one from scratch, why don’t you just take over part of mine? You have your vegan food bank, and we have ours,'” Hunter added.
“It was a turnkey situation that literally fell into my lap. Without him, I don’t even know if this thing would have manifested, so I’d probably be doing something else. It is probably the most beautiful and amazing collaboration that I could have asked for.”
The Vegans of L.A. Food Bank serves food to the city of Los Angeles every third Thursday of the month from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., according to their website. For more information, contact: Gwenna@VegansOfLA.com.
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