RURAL FOOD LOCKER PROGRAM

The Department of Veterans Affairs Food Security Office’s (FSO) vision is to create an environment where all Veterans are food and nutrition secure. The mission of the Food Security Office is to provide resources to VA healthcare systems through partnerships, data management, and research and education to support an interdisciplinary approach to ensure Veteran food security. FSO is organizationally situated within the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services.  VHA FSO is partnering with the Office of Rural Health (ORH) to expand food locker programing. FSO is advancing a West Palm Beach proof of concept to expand food locker programming across five rural and highly rural sites. The Enterprise-Wide Initiative (EWI) uses an interdisciplinary framework designed to connect Veterans with reliable food resources and comprehensive wraparound services that address health related social needs. 

Food lockers are secure food distribution sites for Veterans who are experiencing food insecurity so that they may access healthy food, especially for Veterans who cannot reach traditional food pantries during limited hours or who face transportation, stigma, or scheduling barriers. Veterans enrolled in the Food Locker Program have been screened positive for food insecurity and have diet related diseases. The Veterans will be given a “prescription” for medically tailored groceries to be placed in a locker providing accessibility to the Veteran in a dignified, convenient manner

The lockers will properly store perishable and non-perishable items for Veterans that are food insecure and/or at risk for food insecurity. The system is intended to expand access to nutritious foods to Veterans by having a secure storage system to prevent food from spoiling. This unit will be accessible twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. This decreases barriers such as a Veteran’s work schedule or transportation. The food lockers allow for customization options for medically tailored groceries to promote food medicine programming. Dietitians can prescribe customized grocery bags to address diet related diseases to include but not limited to cardiovascular grocery bags and diabetes grocery bags.