Serving Our Country & Struggling to Eat: The Quiet Crisis Facing Military Families

At the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, a panel of experts and advocates delivered a sobering portrait of military life in America – one marked not just by sacrifice and service, but by hunger. The session, “From Base to Table,” brought together representatives from three leading organizations working to support military families: Janice Walton of the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN), Jennifer Goodale of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), and Liza Lieberman of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

Each panelist spoke from personal and professional experience – Walton as an active-duty Air Force spouse, Goodale as a Marine Corps veteran, and Lieberman as a longtime anti-hunger advocate. Together, they unpacked the hidden epidemic of food insecurity among military and veteran families, and the systemic challenges that make it harder to detect, discuss, and solve.

MFAN’s research, detailed by Walton, has tracked military food insecurity since 2017. Their 2023 survey revealed that one in five military and veteran families reported some level of food insecurity, and nearly 10% of currently serving families reported “very low food security.” Among National Guard and Reserve households, the numbers were even higher.

This hunger is not always driven by low base pay alone, panelists emphasized, but by the compounding pressures of military life: frequent relocations, unpredictable costs, spousal underemployment, rising child care costs, and emergency expenses that can unravel a family’s stability. “Food insecurity,” Walton noted, “is not just a financial problem. It’s a symptom of deeper systemic strain.”

Walton walked through MFAN’s extensive research efforts, which include qualitative interviews, survey analysis, and causal mapping. Through these studies, MFAN identified several high-risk groups: families with a recent permanent change of station (PCS), those with children under 18, and families who’ve experienced financial emergencies or spousal unemployment. “PCSing alone – something every military family faces – can be enough to tip a family into food insecurity,” she explained.

MFAN’s response has been both data driven and practical. In Fort Cavazos, Texas – a community with high food insecurity rates – MFAN launched a pantry restock box program. Newly arrived families receive $150 worth of essential food and cleaning supplies upon moving in, along with a connection to local food resources and, if eligible, three months of Instacart grocery support. The program aims to ease transition related financial stress and foster a sense of welcome. Walton shared that 84% of families receiving the box reported feeling “seen, appreciated, and valued.”

But research and community based programs, she said, can’t replace the need for large scale policy change. That’s where organizations like MOAA and MAZON step in.

Goodale, speaking on behalf of MOAA, detailed how the Department of Defense has only recently begun to acknowledge the extent of the food insecurity problem. After resisting for years, the Pentagon confirmed through its own data that one in four military families faces food insecurity – a finding that catalyzed the creation of the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) in 2022. But implementation has been slow and limited in reach. Initially set at 130% of the federal poverty level, eligibility thresholds excluded many families. Recent legislation has raised the threshold to 200%, a change Goodale called promising but long overdue.

Meanwhile, other policy efforts are still tangled in bureaucracy. Goodale described how changes to the PCS system have resulted in lower reimbursement rates, forcing families to cover more out of pocket expenses every time they move – often every 2 – 3 years. She also noted that spousal unemployment remains stubbornly high, especially among Army families, further contributing to household financial strain.

Lieberman offered a blunter assessment. “The pushback we got from the Pentagon was enormous,” she said. “They didn’t want to admit that military families were showing up at food pantries.” MAZON has been fighting since 2012 to bring visibility to the issue, advocating for legislative changes that would remove the basic allowance for housing (BAH) from income calculations for SNAP eligibility – a technical but critical barrier that disqualifies thousands of otherwise eligible military families from receiving benefits. Because BAH is treated as income, it can artificially inflate a household’s reported earnings by $20,000 or more – enough to disqualify families from SNAP even when they are struggling to afford food. “We were told it would be fixed in the 2018 Farm Bill,” Lieberman recalled. “It wasn’t. And here we are again, preparing for another Farm Bill fight.” She also criticized the Pentagon’s now defunct Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance program as “deeply stigmatizing,” requiring families to go through their chain of command to apply. “No one wants to tell their commanding officer they can’t afford groceries.”

The panelists acknowledged the progress made – notably the creation of a food security office within the VA, and recent targeted pay increases – but emphasized that much more remains to be done. Lieberman noted that military families face unique cultural and institutional stigmas around asking for help, and that any solution must be designed with dignity, flexibility, and awareness in mind. “SNAP should be accessible to military families like anyone else. Period.”

In a rare moment of levity, Walton recalled that the commanding general at Fort Cavazos received MFAN’s pantry restock box – a moment that helped normalize the program and reduce stigma. “Everyone moves. Everyone needs toilet paper,” she joked. “That’s the point – this isn’t about charity. It’s about supporting readiness and retention.”

As the conversation turned to policy, all three panelists agreed that military hunger is not just a quality of life issue – it’s a national security one. “Families are leaving the service because they can’t survive,” one panelist said. “And when you lose them, you lose future leaders, experience, and recruitment.”

The room fell quiet as panelists concluded. The message was clear: military families may be resilient, but resilience should not be a substitute for support. Behind every uniform is a home, a kitchen, and a table – and far too often, that table is empty.