After suffering a stroke in 2021, Los Angeles Westside resident David Greenwald underwent rehabilitation to walk again. He now gets around with a cane, but reliant on public transit and limited to carrying only what can fit in his backpack, trips to the grocery store have become less than ideal.
So Greenwald is grateful for a senior meal delivery program he recently signed up for, provided through Revolution Foods.
The company was contracted by the city of Los Angeles Department of Aging (LADOA) as part of its Rapid Response Senior Meals Program to provide free, home-delivered meals to Angelenos age 60 and over, with priority given to seniors with significant economic or mobility issues.
Revolution Foods prepares low-sodium meals, then freezes them for delivery to people’s homes. Each weekly delivery consists of five meals, with entrees ranging from turkey burgers to lemon Dijon chicken to beef stew. The meals come with sides of vegetables, fruits and milk.
“It’s a great convenience to have prepared meals because I have limited use of my left hand (since the stroke). It makes cutting things a big challenge,” the 68-year-old Greenwald, who lives alone, said about the meal delivery program.
Revolution Foods – which also provides meals to K-12 schools and through senior meals programs elsewhere in the state, including in the San Gabriel Valley – aims to provide equitable access to healthy meals.
The company’s CEO, Dominic Engels, said nearly 40% of California’s low-income seniors face food insecurity.
“Our goal is to serve those that need it the most,” Engels said. “Seniors with significant social and economic needs – those who live in poverty or cannot access food easily because they’re homebound or medically frail – this program is designed for them.”
Sun Valley resident Alfredo Lugo, 69, needed to change his diet after learning he’s pre-diabetic. Since signing up for the senior meals program, Lugo said he and his wife, also 69, are eating healthier, and he’s lost 5 pounds.
Lugo said many in the Latino community where he’s from tend not to eat healthy, so having access to a program like this helps. That the meals are free also help at a time when food has become more expensive, he said.
“I need to eat healthy,” he said. At the same time, he added, “we have a mortgage payment. You know how it is – we have to pay (our) insurance, mortgage.”
Revolution Foods is accepting applications for its meals program. Seniors 60 and over can sign up through revolutionfoods.com/signup.