Black woman creates first vegan food bank in Los Angeles

"We believe that there should be free food resource centers in every zip code like there are fast food restaurants and liquor stores," the Vegans of LA Food Bank said in a statement.

TheGrio Staff

Aug 2, 2023

A Los Angeles woman has teamed with a local church to launch the city’s first vegan food bank.

Gwenna Hunter partnered with Hope on Union to create the Vegans of LA Food Bank, a first-of-its-kind monthly distribution of “nutritious, plant-based food,” the organization said, according to a news release.

Gwenna Hunter, the first Black woman to initiate a vegan/plant-based food bank in the country, the Vegans of Los Angeles Food Bank, is a spiritual lightworker, who brings the message of food worthiness as a birthright, that excludes animals, to the forefront.

“We believe that there should be free food resource centers in every zip code like there are fast food restaurants and liquor stores,” the organization said in a statement.

“The Vegans of LA Food Bank is a solution to those who are experiencing the challenges of meeting their basic dietary needs, by providing them with the resources they need to thrive,” the Black-owned program stated in the news release.

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The Vegans of LA Food Bank serves in-season, locally grown fruits and veggies along with plant-based products donated by generous donors. These include All Vegetarian Inc., Califia Farms, Chobani, Omni Foods, and Just Eggs, according to the news release. Every person can “Build-A-Bag” of groceries to help support their families.

Food banks bridge the gap between available resources and the needs of hunger victims by distributing surplus food from donors and retailers. Vegans of LA Food Bank “are committed to building a healthy, compassionate community, working towards a more sustainable future for the planet, the animals, and the entire human race,” per the news release.

The Vegans of Los Angeles Food Bank is the first-of-its-kind monthly distribution vegan food bank in Los Angeles, creating food security and ensuring Southern Californians have greater accessibility to healthier food options.

“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,” said Hunter in a statement.

Hunter’s vegan food bank serves over 600 people in a single day within three hours, once a month, at the historic West Presbyterian church in L.A.

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“The need and desire for plant-based nutrition is tremendous,” said Hunter, according to the news release.

The Vegans of LA Food Bank provides those struggling to meet their basic dietary needs with the resources they need to flourish.

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