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Some of the most important conversations do not begin in an office or a classroom — they begin around the dinner table, celebrity chef Robert Irvine said.
“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.”
That belief is behind Fuel to Serve, a new five-year partnership between the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) and the Robert Irvine Foundation, designed to use food and shared meals as a starting point for supporting military families.
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The initiative, announced at the end of September, will begin with pilots at Fort Bragg and in the Washington, D.C., region.
It aims 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 says shared meals can help families build connection and community. (Robert Irvine Foundation)
Irvine, founder and chairman of the Robert Irvine Foundation, said the partnership expands his longtime effort to improve military food systems and help families build practical skills at home.
The partnership is allowing Irvine to go “wider and broader and deeper,” he said. “I think we have the ability to bring people back together again over a family table,” he said.
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In addition to his longtime work supporting service members, veterans and military families, Irvine is a restaurateur and television personality known for hosting Food Network’s “Restaurant: Impossible.”
Around his family’s dinner table, it’s “phones down,” he said.
Irvine’s Fuel to Serve partnership with USAA aims to support military families through food, nutrition education and other resources. (Robert Irvine Foundation)
“We communicate, and that’s what I’ve got going on with the military right now, which is amazing to see,” he added.
“Why not plan your food?”
The chef said the work is about more than getting a healthier meal on a plate. It also involves helping families understand food labels, planning meals, shopping on a budget and preparing dinner quickly after a long day.
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For families trying to cook nutritious meals on a budget, Irvine recommends making a weekly menu and grocery list, then spending time prepping ingredients in advance.
Service members gather with Robert Irvine for a meal and discussion. (U.S. Army Europe and Africa)
“Planning is essential in everything we do,” he said. “Why not plan your food?”
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He said basic preparation — such as chopping an onion, boiling eggs or putting together ingredients on a quieter day — can make it easier to get a meal on the table in about 20 minutes.
“Food is the entry point, the front door.”
For military families, the stakes can be especially high, and the Robert Irvine Foundation says one in six military families faces food insecurity.
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Lindsey O’Neill, who leads communications and public affairs for USAA, pointed to research from the Military Family Advisory Network that found 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.
Shared meals can offer families time to talk, reconnect and support one another, Irvine said. (iStock)
Frequent military moves can add another challenge and force families to rebuild their support systems every few years, O’Neill said.
“What better way than the dining table, the dinner table and food to create that natural entry point,” O’Neill said.
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“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.”
She said a shared meal can help reduce isolation while opening the door to conversations about parenting, finances and other everyday pressures.
The Robert Irvine Foundation and USAA are launching Fuel to Serve with pilots at Fort Bragg and in the Washington, D.C., region. (Robert Irvine Foundation)
“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.”
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USAA and the foundation plan to track results from the pilots and use what they learn to expand the model. Irvine said he hopes the partnership will help families establish habits that last well beyond a single meal.
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“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.”