Keeping the communities we serve healthy goes far beyond providing medical care.  

In October 2019, as part of our Food for Life initiative, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California aimed to improve access to affordable, healthy food through a partnership with Food Finders. The program ensures excess food from Kaiser Permanente medical centers is donated to local food pantries. 

Food overage is common in many organizations as it’s sometimes difficult to predict the number of meals needed from day to day. This can sometimes leave a hospital cafeteria with an overabundance of healthy food. Rather than throw away good food, and fill up landfills, Food Finders picks up the food and brings it directly to organizations, homes, and people who need it.   

Prioritizing healthy eating 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for wholesome food across Southern California increased and food pantries that received donations from Food Finders found the support to be essential. 

In 2021, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California donated more than 95,000 pounds of food, enough to provide nearly 80,000 meals, to low-income families and children while keeping carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions out of the landfill. 

Kaiser Permanente has prioritized food security because healthy eating is foundational to good health. 

“As a participating medical center, we are very proud of our partnership with Food Finders,” said Gregg Durkee, chief operating officer, Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center. “We know this is a great example of how health care and community organizations can come together to serve our communities.” 

Learn more about how Kaiser Permanente is addressing food insecurity.