Promoting health equity through medically tailored meals

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Project Angel Food lies at the nexus of health equity, nutrition security, and food as medicine. Many of our clients reside in USDA-designated low-income, low-food access areas, and the most pervasive illnesses we see at Project Angel Food are those that correlate to a lack of available, affordable, wholesome nutrition (for example, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease). Inequities caused by poverty heighten the health issues these communities face. Over 95% of our clients have annual household incomes below $30,120, and many live in food deserts, without access to adequate nutrition to help manage their illness. This leads to increased rates of hospitalization and the need for more specialized care. These disparities are worse for persons of color. Peer-reviewed research demonstrates that medically tailored meals are an effective intervention for those with diabetes, heart disease and other critical illnesses, helping to reduce pain, impairment, and overall healthcare costs.

A grant from LA2050 will support Project Angel Food as we prepare to expand our facilities. Each newly enrolled client receives a one-on-one nutritional assessment with one of our team of Registered Dietitians, in consultation with their primary healthcare case manager, and a menu tailored to individual diagnosis, co-morbidities, and dietary preferences. Existing clients receive follow-ups as needed with our Nutrition Services team. Our credentialed chefs work six days a week, preparing meals from scratch, using fresh vegetables, proteins, and whole grains. Our drivers deliver a week's worth of meals directly to clients' doors. Our weekly deliveries relieve the stress of food insecurity, while drivers provide social connectedness and are trained to perform a basic visual wellness check, recognizing signs of abuse and neglect, and learning of other problems of living.
Over the past five years we have more than doubled the number of people we serve and meals we produce to 1.5 million meals and over 4,400 clients annually. We have reached capacity, however the need for our service has continued to grow. Expanding our facilities will enable us to feed 3 times as many clients, thus increasing food security in the County.

Given the growth in need for our services, we embarked on a capital campaign to create a 2- building campus over the next few years that will enable us to triple the number of meals we serve and have a greater impact on healthcare policy. Our expansion project will break ground this summer and will eventually double the size of our kitchen and add a demonstration kitchen and larger spaces to accommodate volunteers. The 3,440 community members who volunteer with us annually are the life blood of Project Angel Food.
To support our food is medicine ethos we will create a Research and Policy Institute. Areas of interest for research include evaluating when food can be a part of treatment and how diets can be modified to improve health outcomes; as well as shining a light on health equity, and the role of poverty and race as determinants of health. We believe that our efforts will lead to a more equitable healthcare system across Los Angeles and beyond.

Project Angel Food measures our impact by the number of clients we serve, the number of meals we deliver, and through our annual client satisfaction survey. In 2023 we delivered 1.6 million medically tailored meals to our 4,400 clients – a record for our agency. The clients we serve mirror L.A.’s diversity: approximately 79% of the people we serve are persons of color. According to our last Annual Client Satisfaction Survey:
· 99% of clients felt their health had improved;
· 98% of clients reported reduced food insecurity stress; · 90% reported we helped them maintain a healthy weight;
· 72% of clients rely on us as their only food source
In a pilot program with Anthem, we measured the impact of medically tailored meals on Medicaid beneficiaries. Of meal recipients who reported data, 87% said they maintained or decreased the number of the times they were hospitalized, and 86% reported that they maintained or improved their quality of life.