A new five-year partnership between USAA and the Robert Irvine Foundation will launch pilot programs in the Washington, D.C., region and at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, aimed at using shared meals to support military families facing food insecurity and other pressures.
The initiative, called Fuel to Serve, was announced at the end of September. It is designed to connect service members and their families with cooking and nutritional education, financial resources, mental health support, benefits navigation and community programs.
Celebrity chef Robert Irvine, founder and chairman of the Robert Irvine Foundation, said the partnership builds on his longtime work improving military food systems and said the dinner table can be a starting point for bigger conversations within families.
“Food is hope, is love, is community, communication and caring,” Irvine told Fox News Digital in an interview from his home in Florida. “When we sit across from the table with each other, we can see what’s going on.”
Irvine, who hosts Food Network’s “Restaurant: Impossible” and runs several restaurants, said the USAA partnership lets him expand his foundation’s work “wider and broader and deeper.”
“I think we have the ability to bring people back together again over a family table,” he said.
At his own family’s table, Irvine said the rule is simple: “phones down.”
“We communicate, and that’s what I’ve got going on with the military right now, which is amazing to see,” he said.
Food insecurity among military families
The Robert Irvine Foundation says one in six military families faces food insecurity. Lindsey O’Neill, who leads communications and public affairs for USAA, cited research from the Military Family Advisory Network showing more than 41% of military-affiliated respondents experienced low or very low food security, a figure that rose to 57% among junior enlisted respondents.
Separately, Blue Star Families found that 30% of active-duty families said they often or sometimes could not afford balanced meals, according to O’Neill.
O’Neill said frequent military moves compound the problem, forcing families to rebuild support systems every few years.
“What better way than the dining table, the dinner table and food to create that natural entry point,” O’Neill said.
“We all have to eat, have a nutritious meal, be able to break bread, be able to have a conversation together and then, hopefully, find that community and that connection which, quite frankly, is also a huge factor of mission and military readiness.”
O’Neill said a shared meal can reduce isolation while opening the door to conversations about parenting, finances and other everyday pressures.
“Food is the entry point, the front door,” O’Neill said. “But it’s going to go from the dining facility to their home, from the installation to the entire community.”
Practical steps for busy families
Irvine said the program is about more than putting a healthier meal on the table. It also involves helping families read food labels, plan meals, shop on a budget and prepare dinner quickly after a long day.
For families trying to eat well on a budget, he recommends building a weekly menu and grocery list, then spending time prepping ingredients in advance.
“Planning is essential in everything we do,” he said. “Why not plan your food?”
Basic preparation, he said — chopping an onion, boiling eggs or assembling ingredients ahead of time — can make it possible to get a meal on the table in about 20 minutes.
USAA and the Robert Irvine Foundation plan to track the results of the Fort Bragg and Washington, D.C., pilots and use the findings to expand the program. Irvine said he hopes the effort helps families build habits that outlast any single meal.
“If we do that, we’d know more about our kids. We’d know about each other,” he said. “It would foster deeper relationships on every level.”
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