Veterans and Farmers Together

Healing the Wounds of War and Building a Future on the Land

By Michael O'Gorman, Project Director, Farmer-Veteran Coalition

Joshua Anderson grew up farming with his dad in the soybean and corn fields of Missouri and Arkansas. Like a disproportionate number of young people from small towns, he went straight into the Army—not the farm—after high school.

A few years out of the service Josh found himself in the field once again, teaching agriculture to village people in the impoverished country of Niger, in West Africa.

He was in Niger when he heard about an organization called the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. This is a movement of farmers, like myself, who have spent a rewarding lifetime growing healthful food. Our mission is to help young men and women get a start in agriculture after they leave the military, with particular emphasis on those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Josh is interested in both farming and in helping fellow vets, some of whom have serious physical and psychological war injuries to overcome.

Josh enrolled in the prestigious Center for Agro-ecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at University of California, Santa Cruz, with help from FVC to get a full scholarship. He's there now with forty classmates, running an diverse, informative and productive training farm.

I traveled to Minnesota with Josh in May. Our first day was spent touring the coolers at Co-op Partners Warehouse, admiring the produce aisles at The Wedge, and driving out to Gardens of Eagan. While there we followed Linda though the greenhouse, watched a young man cultivate cabbage, dug through compost, and discussed flea beetles.

We eventually made our way up to a stunningly beautiful two-hundred-forty acre property in Sauk Centre, where Josh hopes to farm when he graduates from CASFS in the fall. The farm is part of an ambitious project called Valley Forge Village, supported by the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. The project is spearheaded by the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation, named after the son of Nadia McCaffrey, who lost his life in Iraq. At the farm, Josh and I met up with Nadia and other project supporters, including Gold Star Mom Mary Tillman, mother of famed football star Pat Tillman, and long-time Minnesota State Senator and farmer, Becky Laurey. Six Gold Star Moms sat at the front table when we had our fundraising luncheon the next day.

Our hope is to develop the farm into a Wellness Center, a place of serenity where young war veterans and their families can receive both healing therapies and job training. Josh's vision is to share his love of working the soil with young men and women who will be looking for new ways to serve their country as we help them piece their lives back together.

To find out more about the Farmer-Veteran Coalition and Valley Forge Village go to www.farmvetco.org or www.patrickmccaffreyfoundation.org