Army Veteran Uses Cooking Show to Tackle Mental Health and Loss in Military Families

​After Cory Brown left the Army in 2015 after serving more than 16 years, he felt lost and isolated, missing the camaraderie and responsibility he enjoyed in the military.

Body and mind still flowing with adrenaline and nervous energy, Brown needed to find a way to channel his anxiety.

He turned to the thing he loved almost as much as Army life, cooking.

Brown challenged himself to master complex recipes and prepare home-cooked dishes, not only rekindling a passion, but rediscovering how to connect with people. He also found a way to bond with other veterans in the kitchen.

Last fall, Brown, along with co-host Sam Nathews, debuted “Eat Your Feelings” on YouTube. And it’s not your classic cooking show.

Blending humor, vulnerability and honesty, Brown, Nathews and guests discuss real issues affecting veterans, such as emotional loss and mental health struggles.

It’s built for veterans, military families, first responders and caregivers, Brown told Military.com. The type of people who need this content most and are least likely to seek it out if it looks like a support group.

Second Season Off and Running

The show’s second season debuted recently with guest Ryan Manion, chief executive officer of the Travis Manion Foundation (TMF), built to honor her brother, Travis, a Marine Corps soldier killed in Iraq in 2007.

“She came in, we made chicken pot pie and had one of the most honest conversations I’ve been part of,” Brown said. “Nearly two decades of carrying loss forward and building something as significant as TMF. She didn’t hold back.”

While on patrol, Travis Manion’s squad was ambushed and one of his teammates was shot. The Marine exposed himself to enemy fire to pull his friend back to safety.

“His medic was also shot, and Travis exposed himself again, pulling him back to safety. The enemy had them covered on three sides. Really, the only alternative was to push the enemy back, and my brother did that,” Ryan Manion said in the episode. “He ran out with his grenade launcher and was able to push the enemy back, but unfortunately, he was hit. He was the only member of his team that day that didn’t make it back.”

Travis Manion posthumously received the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest honor for bravery and heroism.

“Nothing brings me more pride than reading the last line of his citation: ‘His courageous and deliberate actions saved the lives of every member of his team,’” Ryan Manion said.

Cooking and Storytelling

On its YouTube page, “Eat Your Feelings” is described as a “cooking and storytelling show about grief, resilience and the hard stuff nobody talks about at the table. Until now.”

While the production quality is high, Brown and Nathews ditch scripts and rehearsals for spontaneity, giving the show a live, see what happens next-type feel.

In less than a year, the show has gained a solid following, with more than 9,000 YouTube subscribers.

“We have a lot of subscribers; we just need more people to watch the episodes,” Brown said. “In season two, we really wanted to capture more parts of the mental health journey. The foundation of the show is, can we produce something that can help somebody? Our measuring stick is always, can we make somebody’s day better? The cooking and the cutting up part? That’s easy.”

Season two’s second episode featured guest Michael “Sully” Sullivan, a decorated three-decade Army veteran who spent 25 years as a Green Beret and survived six combat tours. Sullivan, executive director of Team Red, White and Blue, made his signature taco soup while offering ways to overcome setbacks.

There are better days ahead, Sullivan said. But you gotta put in the work.

The idea for “Eat Your Feelings” came after Brown attended another funeral for a battle buddy who died by suicide. He wondered what he could do to save a veteran’s life but present it in a way that’s less formal than therapy.

“It’s OK to have those conversations, even if they’re hard, right? It’s better than keeping it in,” Brown said. “Cooking, and eventually the cooking show, became that vehicle. Cooking, at least for me, is a love language.”

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