Veterans Canteen Service (VCS)
In 1946, Veterans Canteen Service was established by law to provide comfort, health, and well-being to America’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and VA and VHA employees. With our many retail stores, cafés and coffee shops across the country, we serve those who have served our country. Our Canteens are whole health spaces for Veterans to connect, relax, share and care for themselves in an environment that is their benefit. We are proud to Serve America’s Veterans and those who provide for their care.
Order Online
PatriotGarden
Choose Veggies
Order Online
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is expanding PatriotStoreDirect online product offerings to include floral, jewelry, and gifts from national brands like Phillip’s Flowers, Glass Baron, and more.
These new offerings give Veterans more options to shop with VCS in a convenient way. Customers can submit an order on the VCS website.
Through PatriotStoreDirect, VCS sells name-brand tires at tax-free, discounted pricing; prescription contact lenses; unique gifts; jewelry; and floral arrangements exclusively to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and VA employees. VCS customer service is ready to help customers complete their orders.
VCS is offering floral arrangements and jewelry at 10% less than other national retailers. Gifts from Glass Baron, which include merchandise with official U.S. armed forces license, start as low as $15.
“We are excited to add these lines to our automotive tire and prescription contact lens services at PatriotStoreDirect,” said Lori Lee, chief services officer for VCS. “Our goal is to add value to the VCS benefit for Veterans and their families.”
Lee said PatriotStoreDirect plans to add more items for online order, including tools, automotive service, home goods, top-brand sporting goods, electronics, and toys.
“Look for PatriotStoreDirect and VCS to grow our services this year,” said Lee.
PatriotStoreDirect currently offers the following business lines:
The VCS PatriotStore is also expanding merchandise, offering more apparel for babies and toddler, as well as footwear for men and women. The PatriotStores, which offer essential items in comfortable retail spaces in VA medical centers across the U.S., are also expanding their assortment of value-priced essential apparel, such as T-shirts, jeans, and henley-style shirts for Veterans. This merchandise will provide more value and convenience for Veterans, especially those domiciled in the medical centers, to purchase comfortable new outfits.
PatriotGarden
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is growing fresh produce inside VA’s central office, using a hydroponic system to operate an indoor garden known as PatriotGarden. The garden will grow a variety of herbs the Canteen will harvest and give away at events throughout the year.
VCS unveiled the PatriotGarden on Thursday, May 9, at the PatriotCafé, Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) in Washington, D.C.
“I am excited to produce food and seasoning at the local level,” said VACO Canteen Chief Dwight Brown, who will oversee the PatriotGarden. “This is a terrific opportunity to add more variety and do something special for our everyday customers.”
Herbs are easy to grow in a hydroponic system and will promote Whole Health lifestyles through nudging people to use herbs to flavor food instead of salt or fat. Planted herbs will include dill, parsley, thyme, sage, chives, and basil.
“This is an eco-friendly endeavor that practices sustainability and shows a unique way for VA be better stewards of our environment,” said VCS Chief Nutrition and Whole Health Officer Lu Ann Swehla. “At VCS, our purpose is to bring the VA community together in a space where everyone can connect, relax, and recharge, and the PatriotGarden enhances that space.”
The PatriotGarden comes from a product called a ZipGarden, which is an all-in-one hydroponic indoor gardening system. The compact system allows for year-round growth of a wide range of plants and produce.
As designed, the PatriotGarden combines a water reservoir, nutrient pump, growing tray, and LED lights to grow produce. The reservoir holds a nutrient-rich water, while the pump keeps a constant flow of nutrients to the plants’ roots, promoting optimal growth. The adjustable LED lights provide the perfect light spectrum for each stage of plant growth, ensuring healthy development from seedling to harvest.
The PatriotGarden also supports the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and the goal of ending hunger in America by 2030.
Choose Veggies
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is encouraging customers to choose vegetables for their Whole Health and offering more veggies in VCS cafés nationwide.
Customers can choose veggies in a multitude of ways – as a side from the PatriotCafé, as a snack from the PatriotStore, as a salad from PatriotBrew, or as a topping on anything at Creation Station, the newest meal concept making fresh-to-order sandwiches, salads, and pizzas. All VCS employees will add “Choose Veggies” flag to their VCS name badge to help promote the campaign and remind customers to make the best choices for their Whole Health.
“The Choose Veggies campaign is part of VCS’s commitment to our Be Well - Live Whole Health initiative,” said Lu Ann Swehla, VCS Chief Nutrition and Whole Health Officer. “We will ‘nudge’ customers to eat more vegetables by making them easier to order and cheaper to purchase. We are invested in the Whole Health of our customers, and we encourage them to choose more veggies.”
The “Choose Veggies” campaign is in support of VA’s Whole Health initiative, which focuses on every aspect of a Veteran’s health – body, mind, emotion, spirit – and emphasizes what is most important to the individual. Vegetables, with their many benefits to a diet, are the perfect choice to make healthy changes and improve Veterans’ quality of life.
Customers will also save 50 cents when ordering a meal deal from the PatriotCafé, as ordering vegetables as a side instead of French fries is a greater value. This is part of VCS’s goal to make healthier food choices more affordable for Veterans and their caregivers.
“The grill area is where we can make the most impact in our customer’s health,” said VCS Dietitian Kristen Schwent. “Choosing veggies over fries significantly reduces fat, saturated fat, and calories and increases fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Our veggies strike a perfect balance between tasty and nutritious, and they can make a significant difference to anyone’s health and well-being.”
VCS will offer different vegetable choices throughout the week, including broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and green beans, with various methods of preparation to increase variety. Vegetables can be roasted, toasted, steamed, glazed, and seasoned to maximize flavor while maintaining the important level of nutrition. A variety of vegetables are also available at Creation Station, while many PatriotBrew coffee shops offer salads, and PatriotStores offer veggie-based snacks.
“I encourage customers to add tomatoes, mushrooms, or even caramelized onions as pizza toppings and lettuce, red onion, and tomatoes on sandwiches and salads,” Swehla said. “There are so many ways to add color and variety to a meal, and Creation Station is the perfect service for enjoying a different meal every day.”
The “Choose Veggies” campaign comes just in time for August’s National Wellness Month. National Wellness Month, celebrated every August, focuses on practices like stress management, self-care, implementing healthy routines, and improving your overall health and wellness. Eating more vegetables is a great way to prioritize health.
Follow us on  |
||
