A food truck can be both a business test and a training ground. That is the premise behind Let's Chow, a veteran-focused food-truck incubator founded in 2020 by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jordan Foley. The program provides culinary instruction, equipment, mentorship and operating experience as participants work toward building food businesses of their own.
Foley created the program after a close friend and fellow veteran died by suicide while trying to start a food-delivery business for military bases, according to WMAR 2 News Baltimore. The loss is the personal origin of Let's Chow, but the program's day-to-day work is focused on a more practical problem: helping veterans move from an idea for a food business to the demanding work of running one.
Training built around operating a real business
Toast describes Let's Chow's curriculum as a five-step progression that starts with basic cooking skills and moves toward enterprise ownership. Participants can receive help with menus, sourcing, marketing, accounting, equipment and service operations. That emphasis distinguishes the program from general entrepreneurship advice because veterans practice serving customers while learning the administrative tasks that determine whether a food business can function.
The Robert Irvine Foundation became the program's official food-truck partner in 2024. The foundation says Let's Chow has expanded from five trucks to nine, while the program's own materials describe a model in which donated or funded equipment gives participants a mobile venue to test products, build sales experience and develop a customer base. Those figures describe program reach, not independent evidence that every participating business succeeds.
One example is Voyager Cold Brew, a company founded by former Navy SEAL officer Stephen Meidus and partners who began by selling at farmers markets in the Virginia Beach area. The Robert Irvine Foundation reports that Voyager later pursued a supply opportunity connected to the U.S. Naval Academy and that Let's Chow supported the company with a dedicated mobile truck and equipment. The account illustrates the program's intended bridge from small-scale testing to institutional sales, but it is a single example rather than an outcome study.
A small-business pathway within a larger support system
Veterans seeking business ownership can also turn to federal programs. The U.S. Small Business Administration says its veteran resources include funding programs, training and federal contracting opportunities. That support is broader than Let's Chow's food-specific approach; the available information does not establish that one model is more effective than the other or provide a comprehensive comparison of eligibility, participation or business survival.
The U.S. Census Bureau says veteran-status data help communities plan and fund assistance and services for veterans. Such public programs matter because the transition from military service to civilian work can involve more than choosing a business idea: it can also require financing, technical skills, customers and a support network. Let's Chow addresses some of those needs through hands-on culinary and business training, but it does not replace broader financing, contracting or workforce programs.
The suicide-prevention context is serious, but the program is not treatment
The personal loss behind Let's Chow also sits within a substantial national problem. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported a 2023 suicide rate of 35.2 per 100,000 among Veterans, compared with 16.9 per 100,000 among non-Veteran U.S. adults. VA News reported that 6,398 Veterans died by suicide that year, 44 fewer than in 2022.
Those statistics describe national mortality, not the effect of Let's Chow. The foundation explicitly distinguishes the program from clinical mental-health or suicide-treatment services. Its potential contribution is instead social and vocational: helping participants build skills, pursue work and stay connected to mentors and peers. The available sources do not show whether participation changes mental-health outcomes or reduces suicide risk.
Foley remains on active duty as a Navy attorney while running Let's Chow, according to the program's public materials and WMAR's reporting. That dual role helps explain the organization's military-to-business focus, but it also underscores the limits of the available evidence: public accounts document the program's mission, partnerships and examples, not a measured long-term impact. For now, Let's Chow is best understood as a specialized, practical business incubator operating alongside—not in place of—government small-business assistance and professional mental-health care.
