EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Garner Shares 1 Simple Question That Leads to Happiness

"Not only did Pat and Bill Garner place a strong emphasis on their daughter's education, but their kitchen was consistently stocked with fresh produce from the family garden and other nourishing ingredients. The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes that early nutrition is vital for brain development, warning that deficiencies in essential nutrients such as iron, zinc, and iodine can have lasting effects on cognition and behavior."

""We cannot expect kids to go to school and thrive and learn without making sure they have food in their bellies," Garner says, pointing out that an estimated 17 million U.S. households face hunger. That reality inspired her to co-found Once Upon a Farm, an organic baby food company that partners with Save the Children to bring nutritious meals to children in food-insecure communities across the country."

"Growing up in West Virginia, Jennifer Garner remembers the moment she began to notice the divide: some classmates stayed behind in elementary school while she moved on to the next grade. "I was raised in a middle-class family surrounded by generational rural poverty," the actor, 53, tells TODAY.com. It wasn't until later that she made the connection. Children whose parents were professionals seemed set on one track, while kids from the "hollers," isolated communities in the state's mountain valleys, were on another."

Jennifer Garner grew up in West Virginia amid stark educational and nutritional divides between middle-class families and isolated "hollers." Some peers experienced hidden hunger caused by low-quality processed foods that masked nutrient deficiencies. Garner's parents prioritized education and stocked their kitchen with fresh produce from the family garden. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that early nutrition is critical for brain development and that deficiencies in iron, zinc, and iodine can have lasting cognitive and behavioral effects. Garner co-founded Once Upon a Farm to deliver nutritious organic meals, partnering with Save the Children and surpassing 1.3 million meals delivered.

Read at TODAY.com