'No one should ever be hungry': Founder of LA's first vegan food bank shares 'why' behind project

Gwenna Hunter is combatting food insecurity in Los Angeles one fresh vegetable at a time.

After a spiritual experience that led her to go vegan and a hard time in life that led her to food bank lines, Hunter noticed the absence of vegan food banks and was compelled to start her own.

Vegans of LA, the first vegan food bank in the city has fed more than 500 people on the third Thursday of every month since May of last year. Most people don't know that L.A. is one of the vegan capitals of the world.

“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,” Hunter shared with USA Today.

A study from the University of Southern California reported earlier this year that one in four households in Los Angeles County experienced food insecurity in 2022. Food insecurity in L.A. County is worse now than it was in the decade before the pandemic, the study found.

A plea to the universe carved the path for vegan food bank

Before Vegans of LA was born, Hunter had the opportunity to see the impact a vegan food aid program had on the community after serving social justice organizations like Black Lives Matter, Black Women for Wellness, Black Women Farmers of LA, the LGBT Center on MLK and the African Spirituality Center.

Just giving people access to fresh fruits and veggies, grains, herbs and even hot meals made a significant impact on their lives, Hunter shared.

After seeing how valuable vegan food programs were to the communities served, Hunter began to think about what she needed to do to get her own food bank idea off the ground.

Obtaining freezers and refrigerators, trucks, employees and a warehouse seemed like an overwhelming list to tackle all on her own.

“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. And I didn't feel that confident trying to find a location for free and all that. 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 shared.

The universe brought her into contact with United University ChurchPastor Sunny Kang, who wanted to collaborate together on a vegan food program he had running at USC. After talking for a bit, Hunter found out that Kang had a fully operational food bank.

“What a coincidence because I'm trying to start a food bank, but I want mines to be completely vegan. It is so overwhelming. 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 said.

Kang was willing to give Hunter everything she needed to get started.

“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,” Hunter shared.

“So much gratitude” is exchanged

Vegans of LA serves approximately 600 Angelenos in a three-hour period every third Thursday of the month in two locations.

The team starts off the morning serving fresh produce staples like cabbage, tomatillos, mushrooms, cilantro at their brick-and-mortar location at 2208 S. Union Ave before heading over to serve Westminster Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, Hunter said.

Hunter supplements the donations given to the food bank by purchasing additional produce herself which is why the variety of the produce can vary from month to month. Vegans of LA get their organic produce sourced locally from organizations like Food Forward and What's Good Produce.

Bananas, potatoes, apples, limes, or yams tend to be some of the most common produce donated, but the kind of plant-based products they serve depends on the donation. They have served frozen vegan mushroom balls, vegan shrimp, vegan fish, vegan burgers and vegan jerky.

The team begins to sort through all of the donations the day before to make sure all of the food is in good condition before they begin the distribution process.

By the time Hunter shows up the next morning to get started, the line is wrapped down the street and around the block.

“People start getting in line as early as four o'clock in the morning to make sure that they're able to get everything that's there,” Hunter said. The average person comes to pick up food for a family of four.

The team sets tables out on the sidewalk in a line to distribute the grains, nuts, produce and then the frozen items. Volunteers greet each person with a “good morning” and “how are you,” Hunter shared.

Since they don’t pre-pack bags of food, each person gets to pick out what they want. They keep the line going until everything runs out.

“There’s so much reciprocity of gratitude that's being exchanged during that two-hour period. It's an absolute, beautiful and very healing on both ends experience,” Hunter said.

"Food is a human birthright"

What makes Vegans of LA an invaluable resource for the community is that they're recognizing the need for a specific type of food bank to address food insecurity issues in Los Angeles within a specific community, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council Alba Velasquez told USA Today.

Any initiative to address insecurity is important and welcomed, Velasquez shared.

Giving people fresh fruits and vegetables to nourish their soul is incredibly important to Hunter, who, experienced food insecurity when she first moved to Los Angeles nine years ago.

“I found myself going from abundance to what we call poverty in a very short period of time. I remember one time having $5 for the week to eat with and if it weren’t for the 99 Cents Only store, I don’t know what I would have done. It was a really stressful time in my life. Luckily for me, it was just me and my cat, but I can only imagine how stressful it would be to a family to provide for,” Hunter said.

Free food resources should be available all over the planet, but there is no excuse for anybody in Los Angeles to be hungry, Hunter shared.

“There's so much food waste. It is ridiculous. No one should ever be hungry."

Hunter has found a way to keep less people in the community hungry whether you are vegan or not.

“In a really coy way, this is a form of activism. Not just in the sense of providing food access to people, but also to show people in a really gentle, kind and quiet way that this [plant based products] tastes just as good as the animals that you're cooking,” Hunter said.

Hunter became vegan after experiencing a spiritual awakening of sorts, one that connected her to the soul of a cow.

“I learned that animals are as conscious and as aware of their realities and their lives as human beings. When I realized animals love just like we do, but in a more pure way …. was like I can't eat someone that loves their children. I can’t eat someone who came to the planet to live a happy life just like we did. I don't wanna interrupt that by eating on their bodies. When I had that awakening, it changed everything for me. For me, food access is also a form of activism,” Hunter shared.

Members of the community should be helping one another, instead of waiting for the government or local officials to become involved, Hunter said.

“You are the government. You are the local official. You can take matters into your own hands and help your own community. You don't need any laws passed or legislation passed in order to help and put forth effort to help give people a basic birthright, which is food. The planet already comes fully equipped with food. The planet comes with everything so there's no reason for anyone to go hungry,” Hunter said.

Especially, since the initial cost of starting your own can be relatively little.

“There are companies or organizations like Food Forward that exist in almost every state that go out and get surplus from farmer's markets and food banks. If there aren’t, a farmer would rather give you their excess instead of dumping and getting rid of it.  Supermarkets too. There's no excuse. Anyone can get involved in this,” Hunter shared.

Even though Hunter has no immediate plans to expand the food bank much farther than Los Angeles at the moment, she is going to see what life brings.

“I am focusing on really learning and perfecting the craft of what I've created here in L.A. So as soon as I perfect and master this craft, I'll definitely be setting my sights on another spot here for sure,” Hunter said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gwenna Hunter shares story of opening first vegan food bank in LA