To the editor: “Eat actual meals” is nice recommendation, however provided that you already know what which means (“‘Eat real food’ is great advice, but it’s only part of the equation,” March 30).
At Venice Household Clinic, a nonprofit neighborhood well being heart for underserved Angelenos, we hear from sufferers every day who don’t know what wholesome meals seems like — or whether or not they can afford it. One current affected person put it plainly: “Nobody ever instructed me what ‘maintaining a healthy diet’ means till I began going to diet class.”
That training, together with entry to wholesome meals, saves each lives and cash.
Final yr alone, our clinic educated greater than 2,000 Angelenos by means of diet courses, wholesome cooking and outreach applications whereas distributing almost 1 million kilos of free, wholesome meals throughout Los Angeles.
However these free-to-the-community applications at the moment are in peril. Underneath the One Large Stunning Invoice Act, the CalFresh Wholesome Dwelling (SNAP-Ed) program was eradicated in October 2025. This program beforehand funded diet and cooking courses that assist our sufferers forestall and tackle continual illnesses together with diabetes and coronary heart illness.
With out extra funding, meals education schemes like ours will ultimately disappear, and susceptible sufferers who depend upon them may have nowhere else to show.
Entry to wholesome meals issues. So does training on what to do with it. Let’s ensure we proceed to fund and supply each.
Mitesh Popat, Los Angeles
This author is chief govt of Venice Household Clinic.
