We believe that veterans have a three-tiered hierarchy of needs: physical, psychological and aspirational. Other organizations focus on the psychological and aspirational tiers, helping veterans find mental-health supports and new purposes in life. But at Farm2Veteran, we are working our way from the ground-up, starting with the physical needs. Before veterans can have the energy to pursue psychological and aspirational help, they first need a boost to meet their most basic physical needs. Food security is central to veterans’ physical well-being, but in the United States, far too many veterans don’t know how they will get their next meal. More than 25 percent of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have struggled to put food on the table.

Nutritious food is not only vital to one’s physical well-being, but it is also the center point of a healthy social life. Mealtimes function as important times to rest and recharge with community. One good meal can remind veterans of good times, signal better things to come and inspire veterans to reach out for help. In more than 75 interviews with veterans who have experienced homelessness, a majority said that they had the strongest will to get help when they were reminded of the good times. For many, these moments happened around high-quality meals.

Many veterans struggle to readjust to their home lives after returning from service. In interviews, veterans often explain that one of the biggest challenges of the transition is finding new direction and purpose. The military offers a clear, mission-driven structure that can be hard to find elsewhere, and veterans may need help to regain that sense of structure and meaning. However, none of that can happen if veterans are living from meal to meal. At Farm2Veteran, we strive to provide better-than-organic meal experiences that veterans can use as leverage to seek out the help they need.