Protein for All Toolkit

Courts are increasingly at the forefront of addressing our nation’s mental health crisis. Research indicates that food insecurity and lack of food access worsen addictions, mental illness, and poor decision-making. When individuals come to court without having eaten, emotionally reactive and uncivil behavior is more likely to occur. This, in turn, contributes to burnout, secondary trauma, and addictions among court officials who manage these emotionally charged situations throughout the day.

Mental health is inherently complex. Going extended periods without eating shifts our cognitive processes from the responsive cortex to the reactive limbic brain. This is particularly evident in individuals with primary and secondary trauma, mental illness, addictions, or burnout. Protein for All is a program that compassionately addresses the essential need for nourishment, enabling people to make decisions using their responsive cortex and be more fully engaged in the process.