The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reopened a food hub as part of its pilot program it is running to combat food insecurity among the veteran population.
The VA Memphis Healthcare System reopened its hub, Lt. Col. Luke Wathers Jr. VA Medical Center, last week through a partnership with Mid-South Food Bank, allowing veterans to access groceries and other supportive resources in Tennessee. It had initially opened in May as part of a soft opening before the recent full launch.
“Because the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr. VA Medical Center has the capacity to safely store and distribute food, Mid-South Food Bank is able to provide a variety of items for the food hub, including fresh produce, meat, poultry, frozen foods, and non-perishable items,” Christina Drones, director of agency relations and program services for Mid-South Food Bank, said in a statement.
Veterans are 7.4% more likely to experience food insecurity than non-veterans, according to VA’s Office of Health Equity data.
Experts attribute this gap to high rates of service-related disabilities, PTSD, and transitional civilian employment hurdles. Furthermore, social stigma and bureaucratic rules often prevent veterans from accessing traditional safety nets like SNAP.
Twenty years ago, veteran hunger was largely untracked by the federal government. By 2016, data revealed 27% of post-9/11 veterans suffered from food insecurity—numbers that spiked to 20% across all military families five years ago during the COVID pandemic.
Today, the expanded network uses clinical data to deploy targeted food resources directly to high-risk regions.
What Food Hubs Provide
The food hub provides shelf-stable foods, frozen items, fresh produce, and same-day access to services like access to social workers and dietitians who may help address underlying causes of food insecurity.
“The food hub not only provides food, but it also addresses the reason behind the need,” said Rosemary Campbell, facility program coordinator for the food pantry program.
“If a veteran is experiencing housing insecurity, we can offer them same-day referrals to social workers who can assist with that,” Campbell added. “If they are having concerns related to their diet and health, we can also refer them to dietitians the same day.”
And if there are community services that can further support them, we can connect them directly to those services as well.
The new facility brings the total number of facilities participating in the food hub pilot program to 18, the VA said.
Other confirmed locations now include major medical centers across the country, including in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Dallas and Durham.
“Our role is to make sure our agency partners have what they need in order to help as many people in their community as possible,” said Drones said.
