Happy Hour: Mules & Military With Chef Robert Irvine

Summary

Kennedy Saves the World

Episode: Happy Hour: Mules & Military With Chef Robert Irvine

Date: July 10, 2026
Host: Kennedy
Guest: Chef Robert Irvine

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Episode Overview

In this engaging “Happy Hour” episode, Kennedy sits down with celebrity chef, military veteran, and philanthropist Robert Irvine for a lively conversation about food, military life, and the deeper meanings behind eating together. Over Moscow mules, they discuss everything from the military’s food revolution and the importance of eating healthy, to the sacredness of family meals and Robert’s work advocating for better nutrition for veterans and troops. The tone is convivial, witty, and genuine, with Kennedy’s trademark quick wit and curiosity, and Robert’s passion for improving lives through food.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Robert Irvine’s Background and Military Connection

• Early Influences
  • At 11, Robert began cooking in home economics (03:03), originally motivated by being the only boy in a class with 30 girls.
  • His first dish, a quiche Lorraine, was not well received by his dad but sparked his love of food.
• Military Service
  • Robert was “marched down to the recruitment office” and joined the Royal Navy as a teenager because his mother thought he was headed for trouble (04:01).
  • He shares memories of working onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, interacting with royals, and coming full circle by later leading a tour on the decommissioned ship (03:34–06:54).
• Cultural Identity
  • “British by birth, American by choice.” Robert explains why he renounced his UK citizenship to become an American and how both cultures have shaped him (08:54).

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2. Food, Love, and the Family Table

• The Emotional Role of Food
  • Food is not just fuel; it is a catalyst for conversation, connection, and even healing.
  • “Food is the international language of love and hope. And it just, it allows you to kind of just let everything go and talk.” – Robert (12:05)
• Nurturing Through Cooking
  • Kennedy reflects on being a “food nurturer,” choosing to show love through what she cooks for friends and family (10:29).
  • Both agree that feeding others is not manipulation but “the purest form of love” (11:02).
• Family Rituals
  • Robert describes his strict “phones-off” family meals, fostering genuine connection and conversations in his home.
    • “I made a rule in my house, phones off, in a basket by the door. We eat, we talk.” (25:26)
  • This theme leads into the importance of educating children about food and involving them in shopping and cooking so that they can make better choices as adults (26:40).

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3. Revolutionizing Military and School Food

• Problems with Current Food Systems
  • Robert details the long-standing issue of poor-quality food in the military:
    • “How do we take food that sucked since 1936… and don’t you think our men and women that wear the color nation and family should have the best?” (09:21–09:53)
  • He criticizes both supply chain priorities and the disconnect between food providers and the people they serve (“frozen cat food” being sent to troops, 09:53).
• Recent Progress and Initiatives
  • Robert has been pushing for legislative changes, achieving a breakthrough last December with the Army, and is now expanding to other branches (09:52).
  • Describes new dining facilities sourcing food directly from local farmers and cooking “as you order it,” positively transforming the dining experience for thousands of servicemembers (15:47–16:12, 21:02–21:17).
  • “From zero to 7,000 people” now using upgraded military food facilities, reflecting the success and demand for real, fresh food (21:03–21:17).
• Extending the Vision to SNAP and School Meals
  • Irvine’s vision includes using AI-driven solutions to reduce food waste, improve the SNAP program, and provide fresh, healthy food to families in need (17:51–19:23).
  • “If I could change the SNAP benefit program... give you 1200 [dollars]... and say, oh, by the way, you can get fresh food... then you put in [your ingredients] and we give you 24,000 recipes to pick from. Isn’t that a good thing?” (17:51)

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4. Navigating the Modern Food Movement: Benefits and Cautions

• Organic vs. Conventional Debate
  • Kennedy asks if organic labels matter; Robert admits farming has changed and advocates for a return to “old ways” with fewer chemicals and better crop rotation (16:42–17:51).
  • He raises concerns about waste: “We as a country… till back into the land 44% of what we grow.” (17:51)
• Dangers of Obsession
  • Both warn that while it’s good to know what’s in our food, hyper-fixation on ingredients can sap the joy of eating (13:07–13:40).
• Comparisons Between US and Europe
  • Robert points out that many foods permitted in the US would never be allowed in Europe due to dyes, preservatives, and poor ingredients (13:40–15:47).

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5. Education, Technology, and the Future of Cooking

• The Power of AI and Access to Information
  • AI-powered recipe apps offer a way for people to make the most of what's in their fridge, democratizing home cooking (19:05–19:43).
• Combatting Convenience Culture
  • Robert worries about America’s reliance on convenience and “ding ding” microwave meals at the expense of nutrition and family time (25:17).
  • He encourages a return to cooking at home and sharing meals as an antidote to social isolation and as mental health support (25:26–26:40).
    • “The more time we spend eating and drinking together and conversing together… that's my advice to families, is get back to eating together, get back to listening together, get away from all these phones and distractions. And food is that.” (25:26)

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6. Memorable Moments & Quotes

On Food and Love

• Robert:
  • “Food is the international language of love and hope.” (12:05)
  • “British by birth, American by choice.” (08:54)
  • “I'm on this planet to make a difference. Just like you're doing. Right. You save the world. I want to be Kennedy and Irvine. Save the world.” (21:45–22:05)
  • “Nobody’s cooking anymore... I want people to cook more.” (25:17)
• Kennedy:
  • “In my experience, it is the purest form of love. Like what you feed your family.” (11:02)

On Military Food Reform

• Robert:
  • “How do we take food that sucked since 1936… and don’t you think our men and women that wear the color nation and family should have the best?” (09:52)
  • On bringing real food to military dining: “We're making it as you order it like you would a restaurant.” (15:47)
  • “From zero to 7,000 people” (21:17) using the facility after improvements.
• Kennedy:
  • “Can you imagine, like, knowing that you've got a train and finally having a belly full of food that can fuel you? Imagine the yield.” (21:18)

On Health and Modern Food Culture

• Robert:
  • “Food in the United States would never be allowed in Europe. Most of it, right? Because the color number five, the dyes, the preservatives.” (13:40)
  • “If you put olive oil in [a Mercedes], it’s not going to go very far, right?... I don’t want you to put that in your body like we did.” (25:07)
• Kennedy:
  • “My girls and my fiancé make fun of me cause at 8 in the morning, I'll be like, what should we have for dinner?” (11:02)

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Notable Timestamps

• 03:03: Robert’s humble beginnings in cooking and view on being a restaurateur.
• 04:01: How Robert's mother led him to the navy.
• 05:03: Reflections on leadership and early adult roles.
• 09:21–09:53: Insights on military food overhaul and legislative changes.
• 12:05: “Food is the international language of love and hope.”
• 15:47: “We're making it as you order it like you would a restaurant.”
• 17:51: US food waste statistics and SNAP reform ideas.
• 19:05: How AI can empower families to cook healthier meals.
• 21:17: Massive increase in military dining facility usage after reforms.
• 25:26: Phones-off rule at family table and its importance.
• 26:40: Passing on food education to children and its generational benefits.

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Summary Takeaways

• Food is connection: Both guests agree that food forms relationships, nurtures emotional bonds, and can be a powerful force for good.
• Military and institutional food is changing: Thanks to Robert Irvine’s advocacy, military dining is shifting toward fresher, locally-sourced, and made-to-order food.
• Education is key: Starting food education young leads to lifelong healthy habits.
• Technology and tradition can coexist: AI can help families cook more creatively and waste less—even as old-school, in-person family meals remain essential.
• Mission-driven living: Robert embodies a purpose-driven life, dedicated to serving others through advocacy, leadership, and action.

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Listen for: Personal stories, practical advice on family meals, and insider accounts of military catering transformation.
Mood: Uplifting, passionate, candid, and often humorous—perfect for a “Happy Hour” chat with cocktails.

Transcript

[Tropicana Announcer]

Ever wonder where Tropicana got its name? The tropics. And every time you enjoy a glass, you're not just drinking juice, you're taking a trip, stepping into sunshine, and embarking on a flavorful journey into the tropics, where ripe fruit is crafted into wildly delicious juice. And the best part, no passport required. Tropicana. Give life some juice.

[Kennedy]

Hello, and welcome to this happy hour episode of Kennedy Saves the World. And joining me now, I am so excited to talk to you because you have been one of those people that I have been transfixed by for years. Restaurant Impossible is such an amazing show, but you are an entrepreneur. You are a supporter of veteran causes, a cause very close to my heart, which I truly appreciate. You are a captain in the Royal Navy. You are an honorary captain in the US Navy, and you almost played the captain in Sound of Music.

[Robert Irvine]

Well, you can call me a captain, but really a chief.

[Kennedy]

Okay.

[Robert Irvine]

I just got a promotion by four levels.

[Kennedy]

I love it.

[Robert Irvine]

Seriously, that's so much Kennedy.

[Kennedy]

Captain in the Navy is a big deal. Yeah, that's almost like. That's just below Admiral, right?

[Robert Irvine]

Yes. Rear Admiral. Lower. Lower half. Yes. Captain and rear. Yes.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

Or Commodore, if you go in the British Navy.

[Kennedy]

But I love the Commodores. Great dance music.

[Robert Irvine]

Yeah.

[Kennedy]

Robert Irvine. Cheers to you.

[Robert Irvine]

Cheers. I've just watched you make this, so I know this is going to be good.

[Kennedy]

Oh, my garden. Wow. That is fantastic.

[Robert Irvine]

You could be a bartender.

[Kennedy]

Thank you. If this doesn't work out, if this goes teats up.

[Robert Irvine]

Just saying. Just saying.

[Kennedy]

That is fantastic. Vodka. Tell me about this vodka.

[Robert Irvine]

So the vodka is very unique. It's called Weber Ranch. And what's unique about it? Number one, there's three ingredients in it other than the Moscow mute just made, but yeah, three ingredients. It's blue agave, vodka and water.

[Kennedy]

Okay.

[Robert Irvine]

So it's clean.

[Kennedy]

Does vodka normally have a sweetener in it?

[Robert Irvine]

Well, it normally has additives. This is additive free? Completely. There's nothing in it. It's just what I told you.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

So a chef like me, we take a plain white plate. Why do we use white plates? Because we make pretty pictures with the food on it. Yes, it's the same. This drink can. You can make anything with that. It's got its own direct flavor profile. But you can. You can play.

[Kennedy]

And I've heard that mules are your favorite. And so Weber Ranch was kind enough to send us not only the mule mugs, but I was told that. That you enjoy a nice, tasty mule. When did you know you were Good at being a restaurateur?

[Robert Irvine]

I don't think, you know you're good at being a restaurateur. I think I knew as good as a cook at 11 years old. So I started cooking a home economics class at 11 years old. Now you ask why you didn't. But I'm gonna tell you why. Because there was 30 girls and me, and I thought I might get a girlfriend. I made a quiche Lorraine. Quiche was really good. I took it home. My dad said it sucked, but I fell in love with food. And it was a natural progression. I didn't have a restaurant until I came to the United States, funnily enough.

[Kennedy]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

I joined the Manchester Royal Navy. I worked with the Royal Family on board a Royal Britain.

[Kennedy]

Who's your favorite royal?

[Robert Irvine]

I would say has to be King Charles and William.

[Kennedy]

Oh, that's nice. They both seem. Yeah, King Charles has definitely had a softening over the last, like, decade, I'd say.

[Tropicana Announcer]

Yeah.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

Well, I'll show you a picture after this. When I was 15 years old on the Royal Yacht. I don't have my phone with me, but I'll show you afterwards.

[Kennedy]

What were you doing on the royal yacht at 15?

[Robert Irvine]

So my mother. I was a bad kid. See, alcohol. I was a bad kid. When I was 15 years old, my mother go to work. I would wave all dress up in a shirt and tie, and then double back and drink my dad's beer with my friends. And one day she called the house and I answered the phone, you know, the Irvine residence.

[Kennedy]

And she had a feeling.

[Robert Irvine]

Yeah. And I just kind of went. And I was marched down the recruitment office, and here I am.

[Kennedy]

Oh, okay. So you joined the military by force?

[Robert Irvine]

Yes.

[Kennedy]

That was not like, I really want to serve my country.

[Robert Irvine]

It wasn't served my country, although I loved it at the beginning. It was. My mother fought because I was not a good kid. Then I fell in love with it. I felt I was a natural born leader as a young kid doing things with older guys. We didn't have women ships in the British Navy in them days. And it's been my whole world, my whole life has been. I run Trump casinos at a young age. I run this at a young age. I've done things that not many people have done.

[Commercial Announcer]

And.

[Robert Irvine]

And here I am, 61 years old, drinking with you right now in a booth, which is. Right. Kind of cool.

[Kennedy]

Did you ever meet Prince Philip and talk to him about your time in the Navy?

[Robert Irvine]

No, I was on the Royal Yacht.

[Kennedy]

Okay.

[Robert Irvine]

But when you're on The Royal Yacht. You're not

[Kennedy]

hobnobbing.

[Robert Irvine]

Yes. There's a lower and an upper. It's like upstairs, downstairs.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

You know you're behind the scenes. Although I did take 65 people back to the US from the US to UK last year to do a 54 mile hike and we had breakfast on the Royal Yacht. As a museum.

[Kennedy]

Yes. Because it's decommissioned.

[Robert Irvine]

And I took the tour to show them where I worked, which is really cool.

[Kennedy]

How does it feel now going back there? Did the emotions come flooding back or.

[Robert Irvine]

I could tell you every trip I did on her.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

And it was amazing because, you know, we used to take the car in the garage, the Rolls Royce on the side of the ship and Pomp and Circumstance with the marine band and things like that. So for me, it's such a shame. He did over a million miles on those engines. Now it's sitting there as a trophy, as it were to when Britannia did rule the waves. Of course it doesn't anymore because we don't have that.

[Kennedy]

Were you sad when it was decommissioned? Did you take it personally?

[Robert Irvine]

I don't think I was sad because it was time. But I think it should be put somewhere where, you know, if you go to Portsmouth Harbor, HMS Victory was battled Trafalgar. Lord Nelson sits there, pride of place. And I think the Royal York should have a pride. It's part of history. I mean, the longest living monarch from 16 years old was on this ship until she passed, so. And it was her favorite thing.

[Kennedy]

Are you a royalist?

[Robert Irvine]

Yes, totally.

[Kennedy]

Okay, what do you say to Americans who aren't. Who either. Like there are people like me who are really fascinated with the royal family and I absolutely loved watching the crown and it actually gave me a great deal of respect that I didn't have before for the late Queen Elizabeth. But there are a lot of Americans who are like, yeah, kings suck. Mark is lame.

[Robert Irvine]

Say that on both sides. Right. You know, about a president, about a king, about a queen, about it. To me you can, you've got a voice. You can have your own. Right. You can think. I worked with them, I lived with them, I knew what they were, I knew how they are. For me it was an honor. Just like it is to cook for the President United States. Right. Or to cook for you. It's not the, the rank I'm cooking for, it's the person that I associate with.

[Tropicana Announcer]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

And that to me is really important because you can go to a restaurant and have the most amazing three star mission restaurant and go with people that Suck and then your meal. I don't care how good the food is, the conversation sucks, so. And I can go to a hole in the wall and drink Moscow Mules with you and have the best night ever and think it's like, I'm on cloud nine, so. So, you know, you can have your opinion. I know what my travels were and my time, so it was pretty amazing for me. And it's part of history, and I became part of history.

[Kennedy]

That is so cool. I think that's amazing. I mean, just seeing the slice that we have through the crown in this country. And now you're showing a totally different side of yourself and what you're able to do and what Americans are capable of in this new, like, really exciting health movement.

[Robert Irvine]

So here's the. Is the thing, you know, healthy as we're drinking, I love this.

[Kennedy]

I mean, it's clean vodka. It's Topo Chico ginger beer, which is pretty awesome, and lime with a sprig of mint salt. Very salt.

[Robert Irvine]

And it was made by you.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

So British by birth, American by choice.

[Kennedy]

Amazing, right?

[Robert Irvine]

I chose to give up my citizenship because I felt that the land here would give me more and I could give it more. Right. You talk about health and hygiene and by the way, health and hygiene, to me the same. I don't mean washing, brushing teeth, health of the body, the mind, the soul. All of that comes together through food and drink.

[Kennedy]

Yes.

[Robert Irvine]

And yes, alcohol is involved sometimes, and it should be. And there's nothing wrong with drinking wine or vodka or whatever, but being mindful of that. And I'm in the middle of that transformation of the army right now of how do we take food that sucked since 1936. And I mean sucked because somebody's bought the cheapest salmon cut or the cheapest vegetables and said, oh, it's good for dogs, cats, and oh, by the way, send it to our military.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

And yet we can buy center cut salmon based on the volume that we buy for $2 a pound, as opposed to $10 of frozen cat food, you know, and don't you think our men and women that wear the color nation and family should have the best. Yes, I do. I've been fighting for 23 years for it. And we finally changed legislation on the 24th of December last year just for the army. Now we're trying to do it for the rest of the forces. So for me, food is a catalyst of conversation, arguments, loving. All the things that we go on in emotionally come through food and alcohol.

[Kennedy]

Absolutely. I mean, I'm a Food nurturer. And there was a time where people like me were kind of demonized, as though we're a form of codependency. But I will never give that up. Like, I will. I will never shy away from trying to show people my love and taking care of them through what I bake and cook for them.

[Robert Irvine]

Isn't that funny? You're doing something good, which, which I believe is good. And what I'm doing is the same thing. But people feel that you're doing it for another alternative reason. Yeah, like it's a manipulation, just giving you something.

[Kennedy]

No, it is, it is. In. In my experience, it is the purest form of love. Like, it really is. Like what you feed your family. And my girls and my fiance make fun of me. Cause at 8 in the morning, I'll be like, what should we have for dinner? Like, I have some ideas.

[Robert Irvine]

And they're like, what's your fiance's name?

[Kennedy]

Fred.

[Robert Irvine]

Fred, listen, it's the best form of love and she's giving you the best. So at 8:00 clock in the morning, answer her.

[Kennedy]

He's really good about it. He's the most receptive food audience I've ever had. Because he was in the army, he was in combat, and he can tell you about the dog food that they had over in Afghanistan. So when they were giving Pete Hegseth a hard time because he was shipping over steak and lobster, he was like, do you know how long people in combat look forward to that Thanksgiving meal?

[Robert Irvine]

I was in Afghanistan and Iraq over 18 year period, cooking out of, literally from Jalalabad to. To Bagram and everywhere, shipping containers of steak and lobsters. And a young man out there by the name of Ryan Coin. You just saw him, he was 21 years old when we went there. We flew in into a place that we blew up two weeks before. There was no sandbags, no concrete, and the only thing left there was a container full of. Of steak and lobster. And I went in there with a video camera because I couldn't believe how clean it was. And I was doing restaurant impossible. We had nowhere to hide. You sit in that box, get blown up, or we get rpg. I said, let's start some barbecues and let's cook the steak and lobster. And we did. Twenty minutes later, they came back. And exactly two months ago, I met people that I cooked for in that time in that desert, on those barbecues. So food is the international language of love and hope. And it just, it allows you to kind of just let everything go and talk yes. So that's why I love it.

[Kennedy]

So how do you. How do you find the balance between. You know, there are really wonderful elements of the Maha movement. And, you know, mom's rethinking, like, oh, maybe I shouldn't be pumping my kids full of seed oils. Maybe I should spend more time reading ingredients. Maybe whole foods and fewer ingredients has been better all along. So, you know, there's something very beneficial about that. My worry is that the people become so hyper obsessed with food that it kind of takes the joy out of it.

[Robert Irvine]

We have to be careful. Food in the United States would never be allowed in Europe. Most of it, right? Because the color number five, the dyes, the preservatives. I was in Wiesbaden, Germany, two weeks, three weeks ago, looking at a high school, a military high school, and I couldn't believe they were selling Chuck. Selling, giving for lunch, chicken nuggets. And I looked at the bag and there was no chicken in the chicken nugget, right? And I'm like, I came back and I made a report. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. No, chicken and chicken should be chicken number one. And then everything else number two, right? Or very little. I think we've got so obsessed with. And it's food companies that agreed, greedy for money, that they found alternative ways, alternative meats, alternative. Look, when I grew up as a kid, and I'm still growing up at 61 years old, a chicken was a chicken. Yeah, a whole chicken. You cut it up. If you want to make nuggets, you make chicken nuggets or roasted chicken or whatever. Now you don't know what's in it. So I'm. I think what, what RFK is doing in the. In the. And this is not political, right? Because I am not that guy. I'm talking about school feeding. I'm talking about military feeding with Hegseth. Look, we've been doing steak and lobster for. For 27, 30, 40 years. The difference being the quality, the product that we give the schools. Quality of product we give our service members is not good enough. And only Last year, on the 24th of December, did we change that for the army. And since then, we've opened, I think, six new dining facilities where no matter what state it is, we go to the farmer, we buy from the farmer what they farm. So it's stimulating the economy with the 58,000 troops that are there. But also we're buying from local farmer and the seven stations. So there's no more putting it onto a steam table cooking it at 3 o' clock in the morning and serving at 2 o' clock and then throwing out at 3. We're making it as you order it like you would a restaurant.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

When you get up and make your kids breakfast or your fiance breakfast, we're doing the same thing, but for 7,000 people.

[Commercial Announcer]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

It's great. It's unbelievable.

[Kennedy]

I mean, that is cooking on that level. That scale is. It's mind blowing.

[Robert Irvine]

It's no different to you cooking three pieces of something as opposed to cooking 300 pieces.

[Kennedy]

Yeah. Don't go anywhere more. Kennedy saves the world right after this.

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[Kennedy]

Let me ask you a question as a mom, because I've always bought organic produce and organic meat whenever I can, and wild caught salmon. Is there a difference? Because there are libertarians who are like, organic is just a label. It doesn't mean anything. And I've always been like, what if it does? What if in 20 or 30 years they do all this testing and they're like, no, actually, the fertilizers are what's increasing things like dementia.

[Robert Irvine]

Well, I can argue the fact that I know. I know a few farmers and I love farmers, and what they're doing to go back to the original way of farming, not using all those. Those fertilizers and whatnot. Look, the soil that we have five years ago or 10 years ago is not the soil we have today. The rotation of crops, it used to be a lot longer. Now we're just quick as we can, because here's a statistic that will be heartbreaking for you. There's a certain company that sells food pretty big retail that throws away $22 billion worth of food a year.

[Kennedy]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

And then we as a country, these are real numbers. We as a country till. In other words, we grow. And then we till back into the land 44% of what we grow. Don't you think, with a little AI And I've got it. I've got it. I've got the answer. By the way, it's already at certain place. If I could change the SNAP benefit program of 40 million people, instead of giving you $300 a week, give you 1200, right? And say, oh, by the way, you can get fresh food. And here it is. And by the way, on your iPhone, just so we don't give coupons to make you feel, like, not nice. Yeah, yeah, we put it on your phone and we give you. Then you put in, oh, you bought broccoli, chicken thighs. And we give you 24,000 recipes to pick from. Isn't that a good thing when we give them fresh, healthy, real nutritious food instead of throwing it away? And certain people say, no, we'll just mark that down because it's got three days shelf life left. And that's my goal. Feed the military, feed the kids, fix the SNAP benefits, then I can go to bed at night knowing that I've done something good for the world.

[Kennedy]

I mean, that is the nice thing about AI because if you've only got a couple things in your fridge, you can. I do this all the time. I go, okay, I have chicken thighs, I have a sweet potato, I have a sweet onion, and I have bone broth. Give me a recipe.

[Robert Irvine]

And then all of a sudden, Robert Irvine just pops out the fridge and

[Kennedy]

there you are holding everything. And I'm like, give me a recipe. And it does.

[Robert Irvine]

It's great.

[Kennedy]

And it's always, like, it's always good. But people like, if you had an app that can do that, like, but that's the nice thing about AI like, it sifts through everything so you don't have to thumb through your grandma's cookbooks.

[Robert Irvine]

But it's everything.

[Kennedy]

You can if you want.

[Robert Irvine]

But it's everything. Yeah, it's. It's not just. We know predominantly where the food deserts are so we can move food. All these. This AI is people.

[Kennedy]

I hate to destroy the mystery. New York City is not a food desert. Well, we have the highest concentration of grocery stores of any city in the world. It is not a food desert.

[Robert Irvine]

And it's so funny. I bought the military to New York City to a university to show them with no refrigeration. It was Columbia, actually. Columbia University. University has no refrigeration. Yes, more, but no walk ins.

[Kennedy]

Okay.

[Robert Irvine]

Food gets delivered at 2 o' clock in the morning. It has a 95% retention rate for their food service from year one to year five.

[Commercial Announcer]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

What does that mean? You can get food and you just said within anywhere within two miles of any type of food you want, yet people choose to eat there.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

I said, so if they can do that, we can do that in the military.

[Kennedy]

Yes.

[Robert Irvine]

And we can do it for cheaper. And they were like, oh, we can't do it for cheaper.

[Kennedy]

What we do, we have to be able to spend our budget or we won't get it next year.

[Robert Irvine]

I just proved to you we can do it better, cheaper, faster. And by the way, the soldiers and sailors and airmen, they're voting, they're walking to the facility to use it.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

So imagine Fort Hood or Fort Drum or wherever. Fort Carson's the latest one we just opened. Zero people going in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. From zero to 7,000 people.

[Kennedy]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

I'd say that's pretty.

[Kennedy]

I mean, can you imagine, like, knowing that you've got a train and finally having a belly full of food that can fuel you? Imagine the yield. I mean, but imagine the yield on the SNAP program. Like kids who maybe do live in food deserts and don't have a lot of choices and don't have people in their lives who are making the best choices. And now all of a sudden you can feed your brain in the morning. Imagine how much you can learn and

[Robert Irvine]

not go to sleep at 10 o' clock because you're tired because you haven't had breakfast. You know, it all goes together for me. I mean, we talk about why you're on this planet. I'm on this planet to make a difference. Just like you're doing. Right. You saved the world. I want to be Kennedy and Irvine. Save the world.

[Kennedy]

That's right.

[Robert Irvine]

Right. I don't want your show, by the way. I just want. Because that's what I want to do. I want to save the food world.

[Kennedy]

Yeah. And you are doing it joyfully, which is awesome. And people, people gravitate toward your message. And I think like raising two kids, a 17 year old and a 21 year old, and seeing the nutrition choices they make. Now, part of that is because of social media. I'm okay with that because they, you know, I've tried to raise them to be independent and think for themselves and cook for themselves. And kids nowadays, the, the access, the information they have access to, they're making like, way better choices. Like the things that I put in my body when I was 14 years

[Robert Irvine]

old, like, didn't know, but you don't know any different. And at those times, people and food companies didn't care. I mean, look, I laugh when we talk about noodles, right? And I'll always get this wrong, so don't Mock me Ramen noodles. Right? These things, ramen, whatever you call them. See, I knew you were going to do that. Right? There's 1500 milligrams of sodium in that thing.

[Kennedy]

I never read a label.

[Robert Irvine]

Oh, my God. But think about this. So we say to our sailors in our airmen, oh, go and get a noodle. And then 20 years later, we're spending $10.2 billion a year on obesity driven disease, meaning high blood pressure. Because we did it to them.

[Kennedy]

Yes.

[Robert Irvine]

I said, why don't we just go to the noodle company and say, hey, let's make this same noodle for 200 milligrams of sodium instead of 1500.

[Kennedy]

Yeah. Would they be receptive? I mean, I guess if they had big government contracts.

[Robert Irvine]

They're making 500 million a year on noodles.

[Kennedy]

Wow. What is, what is your goal coming out of the Maha movement? What is your goal for, you know, families, for individuals, for people who are trying to save their own world or trying to improve their own lives? Where do you see this going?

[Robert Irvine]

I think, I think you put, you put found these singles. I think they're all the same to me. I think I want families to have to have healthier, real food, which is easy to say, but it has to be affordable too, Right. I want people to be educated. It's not just go to the store and buy the quickest thing. Obviously that's changing with Snap. They're getting rid of the soda and this and this. Look, if you're going to get soda, they're going to buy soda no matter what. Same with soldiers. They're going to buy stuff. I want them to, to have the choices, good choices, and then we can educate them how to cook. Those things you say about AI, it's the same kind of thing, right? You know, you put your things in and it throws out. I want us to make better choices because it's like me, I will go and buy Kennedy a brand new Mercedes. But if you put olive oil in it, it's not gonna go very far, right?

[Kennedy]

Not unless it was a diesel and you converted it biodiesel.

[Tropicana Announcer]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

And then it'll be really smoky and terrible. But I don't want you to put that in your body like we did. Right?

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

I want you to live a longer life. Nobody's cooking anymore.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

You know, it's. I call ding ding. You know, put it in the microwave. Ding, ding, it's done.

[Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Robert Irvine]

And I see that more and more I want people to cook more. And why do I say that? I wrote A book called the Family Table. Because my kids would come in on the phone, da, da, da. And there was no conversation. Yeah, I made her all in my house, phones off, in a basket by the door. We eat, we talk. And I think part of our big problem in society, and I hate to bring it up, but I'm going to. 133 people a day commit suicide. That's kids. 64% of that is military. And that's seven seconds from thinking about it to actually doing it. So the more time we spend eating and drinking together and conversing together, I don't want kids behind closed doors playing avatars. And that's old, but, you know, games. I want them to hear who does talking and having fun and, you know, sharing things. And I think that's the thing with the military for me is food is that device that opens up and drops those barriers. And that's my advice to families, is get back to eating together, get back to listening together, get away from all these phones and. And distractions and food is that I took my kids. One's 27, one's 25, one's a pediatric speech pathologist, once a criminal lawyer.

[Kennedy]

Wow.

[Robert Irvine]

And, yeah, they've worked. And I make eggs. What a great dad. I think those brains, they work, but. But they never had garbage. Now they eat chicken nuggets, stuff. But I always cooked for them, right? And we cooked together, and I took them to the supermarket and they bought green things. They tried them, and it was so funny. I said this the other day. I used to give them 25 cents if you got the ingredient right, whatever it was. And then I cook it, and if you got Right, another 20. These guys now it's probably $1.50, but. But it was a game I used to play with them.

[Kennedy]

Thanks, Biden.

[Robert Irvine]

Yeah. And I never. And I never had to teach them when they got older about food, because I did it all their life. Now they've got their own kids and they do their own things. But, you know, I think education is the biggest thing.

[Kennedy]

Amen. Especially in the kitchen. I think it's so important. I've always tried to do that. And the family table, it is so sacred. And I love that you brought that up, because that is something that can truly reconnect us in the most meaningful way possible.

[Robert Irvine]

You know, the funny thing, that's the name of my book, Family table.

[Kennedy]

Yay, Robert. Here we go. Cheers to you, Robert, and thank you so much for your Fox Nation show, your commitment to veterans and your commitment to wonderful food.

[Robert Irvine]

Here's to Kennedy Saves the World and Irvine in tow.

[Kennedy]

Damn, that's a good mule.

[Commercial Announcer]

It is.

[Kennedy]

Mule starts with good vodka. Weber Ranch. Go find it. You can put it on your vegetables, but most importantly, in your mule mug. This has been Kennedy Saves the World. I'm Kennedy. Listen ad free. With a Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon prime, members can listen to this show ad free on the Amazon music app. Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News Podcast Network.