U.S. veterans living in the Chicago area regularly receive free farm-fresh eggs, produce and meat in appreciation for their service to the country.
The deliveries from Manhattan, Illinois-based Farm2Veteran started after connecting with the nonprofit Volunteers of America Illinois, which operates several housing developments serving veterans experiencing unemployment, mental health issues and homelessness.
Eggs are delivered every other Friday. Produce comes at least once a month. The meat, processed and packaged, is regularly delivered and stored in large freezers Farm2Veteran bought and donated to the housing developments.
“I have not paid a penny for any of this,” says Bridget Hickey, VOA Illinois’ chief of staff and vice president of external relations. “These deliveries easily have changed people’s lives. Our residents can take the money they save from food costs and put it toward something else like electricity bills and school uniforms for their kids.”
Launched in 2020 in Chicago’s south suburbs, Farm2Veteran provides farm-fresh food to veterans through the Fulcrum Farm Foundation. Farm2Veteran’s network of farms across the country provides food to veterans in nine states and has served more than half a million meals to help food-insecure veterans.
“We want to make sure we are giving the best to our veterans,” says Michelle Keller, Farm2Veteran’s senior director. “These folks truly need it. We are very strategic in our model.”
With support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Farm2Veteran is increasing its livestock herd and expanding greenhouses on its 60-acre farm to produce and provide about 150 meals a day to Chicagoland veterans. The nonprofit also is partnering with farmers and distributors in underserved communities.
“We can’t grow everything here on the farm,” Keller says. “We work with a coalition of farms to make sure we have a variety of produce going along with everything we deliver. The more we can provide, the more we can help veterans become healthier.”
BCBSIL’s $30,000 investment in 2025 was made under the Blue Impact℠ grant program targeting social and economic factors that influence health. BCBSIL awarded more than $4.6 million in Blue Impact grants to nearly 120 organizations statewide in 2025.
“We were very excited to learn from Farm2Veteran and its approach to whole, nutritious food access for veterans, says Katie Cangemi, BCBSIL’s community investment senior program officer. “They begin with gratitude for vets’ service to our country by providing better than organic foods and also linking veterans to other important and dignified support services.”
One in nine working-age veterans is food insecure, according to the national hunger-relief organization Feeding America®. Physical and mental health conditions, as well as struggles to find employment and housing, can make it difficult for veterans to stretch their resources to buy food.
Those who have sacrificed in service to the country deserve to have steady access to nutritious foods, says Keller, who meets with veterans to determine what to deliver to them. Farm2Veteran holds barbecues and luncheons at veterans’ residences and legion halls to honor veterans and hear their feedback.
“They call Michelle the farm lady,” Hickey says. “They may not know her name, but they know she’s the one behind the food deliveries. She’s been honored by us. Michelle is a godsend. She is engrained in who we are.”
Keller says she’s the lucky one. She enjoys meeting veterans and hearing how they’re learning to cook the food they receive, better control their chronic conditions and become healthier.
She still thinks about a World War II veteran she met years ago as steaks were prepared at a barbeque. He wept as he told Keller it was the first time he’d eaten a steak in 25 years.
“You hear these stories and how grateful they are,” she says. “It’s them being seen and appreciated. And this meal was cooked for them. It’s so rewarding.”
Deliveries provide convenience and savings
Boxes of produce — carrots, potatoes, broccoli, collard greens, lettuce, bell peppers, avocadoes, celery, Pink Lady apples, grapes and Mandarin oranges — were stacked on tables at VOA’s housing development in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood during a recent delivery.
Resident and U.S. Army veteran Maurice Mosley filled plastic bags with the greens and bell peppers he needed to make one of his favorite meals, black-eyed peas, plus some avocadoes to prepare with his morning eggs.
“I’m saving $30 to $50. I can pay my phone bill with the money I save,” he says. “Any little bit helps. The food doesn’t sit here very long after it’s delivered.”