Will County farm provides fresh food to veterans facing food insecurity

WILL COUNTY, Ill. - A 60-acre working farm in Manhattan, Illinois, operates as a nonprofit with a single mission: to provide our nation’s veterans with the freshest food available, completely free of charge.

"Everything we produce on the farm is donated to veterans in need locally in the community as well as now into eight states," said Michelle Keller, Director of Community Development for Farm2Veteran.

With one in nine veterans experiencing food insecurity, Farm2Veteran supplies both meat and eggs to veterans living in food deserts or those who may struggle to reach markets due to mobility or other challenges.

"These veterans are getting it directly from our farm, our farm managers driving to their housing, and providing these eggs, and they have the best nutrition available so that they can face whatever it is they need to face," said Sarah Zurales, Senior Director of Development.

One of the farmers, who also serves as a delivery driver, is Michael Vega, known throughout Will County simply as "the egg man."

"I think out of this coup we get like 170 eggs a day or something," said Vega. 

Farm2Veteran has only been in the business of feeding veterans for a few years, but has already made a profound difference for those who risked their lives for our country.

"I recently had a veteran who told me he enlisted at 17 years old for the Vietnam War, and now it's 55 years later. He's got heart issues, he's got COPD, back problems. He needs to really limit the sodium intake, he needs to eat nutritious, and he said, 'I learned how to make eggs. I never knew how to make eggs and now I can make them any way you want, and I love it, and I'm so grateful for you!'" said Zurales.

In its first year, Farm2Veteran provided 15,000 farm-fresh meals. This year, they’re on track to deliver 150,000, with plans to expand in the near future.