Grounded in what’s available.
Planning starts with the food a household has or a pantry can provide.
A STUDENT-LED NONPROFIT
Good food.
Greater possibilities.
We’re Food Synergy. We support farmers and households
with practical tools, from the soil to the table.
OUR PURPOSE
A stronger food future.
From soil to table.
Food Synergy is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in San Diego. We help food-insecure households make practical meals through MealStretch, and support farmers with soil testing and management through our contracted work with SoilFlight.
Understand the soil.Make more of available food.Support the people behind both.
OUR FOUNDING PROGRAM
Meet MealStretch.
Pantry food, meal ideas, and grocery planning.
Connected in one place.
MealStretchYOUR HOUSEHOLDYOUR WEEK, AT A GLANCEA little planning.
Fresh produceVegetables & fruit
Everyday staplesGrains & pantry basics
ProteinBeans, legumes & more
A little planning.
A lot of possibility.
Start with what’s in your pantry basket.
Fresh produceVegetables & fruitEveryday staplesGrains & pantry basicsProteinBeans, legumes & moreYour preferences. Your kitchen. Your plan.
Illustrative product views with example content.
Shaped around real life.
Food preferences, budget, and cooking equipment help shape a practical plan.
Connected to community.
Households and pantry partners help us understand what works and what needs to improve.
CONTRACTED SOIL-HEALTH WORK
Meet SoilFlight.
Formerly Terra Sense
Through our contracted work with SoilFlight, we help farmers better understand and care for their soil. The platform connects field records, soil samples, and laboratory results to support practical soil management.
KNOW YOUR GROUND
Better understanding.
From the ground up.
Give each sample a place.
Organize field boundaries, plan sampling points, and keep collection records connected to the land they represent.
Make soil tests useful.
Bring in supported laboratory results and review values alongside their units, methods, and source records.
Bring evidence to the plan.
Review field reports and share records with an agronomist to discuss soil management and improvement.
HOW WE WORK
Technology
with people
at its heart.
A useful tool starts by understanding the people who will use it. That belief shapes the way we build, collaborate, and learn.
Start with the people.
A household’s kitchen and a farmer’s field have different needs. Useful tools begin with their routines, resources, and practical constraints.
Make the plan understandable.
MealStretch connects available ingredients with meal suggestions. SoilFlight keeps field and laboratory information in context. Both make the information behind a decision easier to understand.
Learn before we scale.
Listen to households, farmers, and partners. Examine usability, participation, and evidence for each area of work. Let what we learn guide the next stage.
WHO WE ARE
Led by students.
Built together.
Our student-led team brings together community engagement, nonprofit guidance, and technology and product development, with support from experienced mentors and collaborators.
LEADERSHIP & PARTNERSHIPS
Asher Duben
Founder & Executive Director
Leads organizational strategy, grant development, community partnerships, and day-to-day program work.
TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCT
Peter Nagel
Co-Founder
Leads technology strategy and product development, connecting the program’s needs with its technical direction.
OPERATIONS & COMMUNITY
Penelope Nagel
Mentor & Advisor
Provides guidance on nonprofit operations, community engagement, and organizational development.
CURRENT STAGE · SEPTEMBER 2026Built to help.
Built to help.
Ready to learn.
The MealStretch web app is built, and community onboarding is underway with our first partner, Congregation Beth El.
Alongside MealStretch, our contracted work with SoilFlight supports farmers with soil testing and management. We welcome collaborators to help evaluate and improve both areas of work.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
Good work welcomes
good questions.
Explore the organization, evaluate the product,
or find where your work connects with ours.
RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Bring your questions. Help shape the answers.
We welcome professors, researchers, and students interested in practical food assistance, soil testing, and the decisions households and farmers make every day.
Discuss a research projectA starting point for the conversation
- Household needs, recipe relevance, and usability
- Soil sampling, lab-data quality, and farmer workflows
- Program evaluation and education
Research scope, supervision, data access, and academic requirements are agreed with each institution before a project begins.
CLEAR FROM THE START
A few things
worth knowing.
LET’S MAKE MORE POSSIBLE
A better food future
starts with a conversation.
Farmers. Households. Researchers. Community partners.
There’s a place for your perspective here.