Feed, nurture (7)
I believe the answer is:
nourish
I believe this is a double definition.
'feed' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nurture' is the second definition.
(synonyms)
(Other definitions for nourish that I've seen before include "Feed, sustain" , "Keep alive and well with food" , "encourage growth" , "Feed - encourage to develop" , "[OPPOSITE OF] starve" .)