{"id":8069,"date":"2024-10-09T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069"},"modified":"2024-10-09T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:30:00","slug":"fair-helps-veterans-access-healthy-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069","title":{"rendered":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/greater-los-angeles-health-care\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Greater Los Angeles VA<\/a> held its inaugural Food Security Resource Fair Sept. 10, aiming to connect Veterans with vital resources to combat food insecurity in the Greater Los Angeles area. The event took place at West Los Angeles VA, where VA and community partners gathered to address this pressing issue.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles ranks as the second most expensive city in the U.S for 2024, according to U.S. News and World Report. The high cost of living presents a significant challenge for Veterans to access nutritious food for themselves and their families. VA statistics indicate that Los Angeles is home to the largest population of food insecure Veterans in the VA system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand Greater Los Angeles has one of the largest populations of housing-insecure and food-insecure Veterans,\u201d said Jennifer Allen, Whole Health program manager. \u201cGiven the cost of living in our city, we recognize the importance of connecting Veterans with these resources in order to live a healthful life in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The VA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nutrition.va.gov\/Food_Insecurity.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">Food Security Office<\/a> defines \u201cfood insecurity\u201d as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life or a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food\u200b. This issue impacts various health-related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, mental health and certain cancers.<\/p>\n<p>Pictured above, Allen gives heirloom tomatoes grown from the Veterans Garden.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cThis event is addressing food insecurity more holistically.\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>A 2021 study found that Veterans facing food insecurity are at an increased risk of depression and suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFood security is a basic need and such a foundational part of health care,\u201d said Shari Kushins-Moore, dietitian. \u201cIf someone doesn\u2019t know where their next meal is coming from or someone can\u2019t afford groceries for half the month, how do we expect them to do anything? To make it to their appointments on time, to take their medication, to sleep, to take care of themselves and to take care of their families?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis event is about addressing food insecurity more holistically with wraparound services for Veterans at VA and in the community,\u201d said Allen.<\/p>\n<p>The fair featured screenings by Nursing and various programs, including Whole Health, Nutrition and Food Services, Women\u2019s Health Program, Social Work, Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team, HUD-VA Supportive Housing program, the Welcome Center, Speech and Audiology and the Domiciliary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have screened nearly 10,000 more Veterans for food insecurity than last year with positivity rates remaining about the same,\u201d said Allen. \u201cWe wanted to put together VA and community resources for food insecure Veterans and for employees to empower them to screen more.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Many community resources participate<\/h2>\n<p>Community resources at the event included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.angelfood.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Project Angel Food<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/mealsonwheelswest.org\/about\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Meals on Meals West<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mealsonwheelswla.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Meals on Wheels West Los Angeles<\/a>, which provide home meal delivery services. The Department of Public Social Services signed up Veterans onsite for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdss.ca.gov\/food-nutrition\/calfresh\" rel=\"noopener\">CalFresh<\/a> (formerly known as Food Stamps) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/snap\/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program\" rel=\"noopener\">SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/wic\" rel=\"noopener\">Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsfb.org\/our-services\/need-food-help\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Westside Food Bank<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/greater-los-angeles-health-care\/locations\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Vet Center<\/a> also participated.<\/p>\n<p>West LA VA hosts a weekly food distribution for Veterans every Wednesday from 12 to 1 p.m. between Buildings 500 and 402. Veterans can access fresh, free food, some of which is grown at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/greater-los-angeles-health-care\/stories\/veterans-garden-is-back-in-bloom\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Veteran\u2019s Garden<\/a> on campus. Additionally, the Bandini Foundation\u2019s Heroes Golf Course Food Distribution events provide produce and non-perishables on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., except holidays. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is vital that we work collaboratively across the nation to address food insecurity among Veterans,\u201d said Jason Melton, executive officer, VA Food Security Office.<\/p>\n<p>Melton and Megan Bowman, National Nutrition Food Security program coordinator, attended the fair to show national support for food security initiatives. \u201cThe pioneering work being done here sets a powerful example for the entire VA healthcare system,\u201d Melton said.<\/p>\n<p>If you are a Veteran experiencing food insecurity, please reach out to your local VA Medical Facility for assistance. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nutrition.va.gov\/Food_Insecurity.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">resources for Veterans<\/a> who are food insecure or at risk of food insecurity.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/135306\/fair-helps-veterans-access-healthy-food\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069\"},\"wordCount\":724,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-119.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health &amp; Care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069\",\"name\":\"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-119.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-119.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-119.png\",\"width\":875,\"height\":653},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=8069#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans","description":"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans","og_description":"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food","datePublished":"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069"},"wordCount":724,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-119.png","articleSection":["Health &amp; Care"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069","name":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-119.png","datePublished":"2024-10-09T14:30:00+00:00","description":"Greater Los Angeles VA held a Food Security Resource Fair to connect Veterans with vital resources in the Greater Los Angeles area.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-119.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-119.png","width":875,"height":653},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8069#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fair helps Veterans access healthy food"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}