FVC’s Veterans Organic Farming Educational Retreat  took place Memorial Day weekend. Sixteen aspiring farmers with military service backgrounds attended and all day Saturday and Sunday they were informed by experts in organic farming, training and certification. FVC provided accommodations, food and transportation to the venues, all around Santa Cruz, CA. Here are most of the attendees and FVC staff, posing amidst the organic berry bushes of Swanton Berry Farm. Jim Cochran, the founder, is in the center rear:

Photo by Susanna Frohman.

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All,

Here are a few pictures of today’s amazing event in Inglewood, California. I and three young vets helped put in a school garden in a poor part of Los Angeles as the first of 1000 schools that Kelly Meyer, wife of Universal Studios President, Ron Meyer, is spearheading. Yesterday my son, Greg, my daughter-in-law Rachael, my grand-kids and two other vets spent a long day filling the beds with soil. One of the vets, John McLaughilin, 27 year-old Army Vet and Purple Heart grew up on a 1200 acre farm outside of Merced. Jose Soto went to Iraq at the age of 17, saw some of the worst battles and lost a lot of friends.

Today we planted the gardens with 700 kids. In the afternoon there was a star-studded assembly.

The first picture is Jose, me and Tobey Maguire, who talked about being a vegan.

The second picture is Kelly introducing me to speak.

The third is John, Gabby Reece (beach volley ball star), me, Derek Fisher from the LA Lakers, Peggy from Growing Great (a project that supports school gardens) and Tobey.

The last one is my son planting with a group of kids.

It was a great day, to put it mildly.

The school is 60% Hispanic, 38% African American and 2% other. I asked the kids how many had family or friends that went to Iraq or Afghanistan and somewhere between one third and one half raised their hands.

After the assembly one teacher brought up an eight year old Hispanic boy that was fighting back his tears. She said he was sad because his Dad was getting sent to Iraq. She asked him if he wanted to meet any of the celebrities. He said no, he wanted to meet my son. Greg knelt down in front of him and held his hands. “Your Dad will have lots of friends that will look after him for you”, he said. “Make sure you write him and send him lots of pictures.” An emotional scene for me at the end of a long two days.

(Click image to enlarge)

Addenda:

Access Hollywood covered the event (because there were celebrities involved, obviously) but gave it good publicity. And participant Gabby Reece described the event in her blog.

It was a lively event where many good connections were made – between veterans and employers, veterans and agriculture advocates, FVC and farming veterans. The portraits show only a part of the 140+ veterans who attended.

Settle in, click the PLAY arrow and enjoy. Music by Tony Dee

FOOD & FARMING

VETERANS CAREER FAIR

March 5, 2010 * 9 AM – 4 PM

Veterans Memorial Building

1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa

Event Coordinator: Linda Speel  -   linda (at) farmvetco.org

FOR DETAILS, CLICK HERE

]]> http://www.farmvetco.org/2010/02/food-and-farming-veteran-career-fair-2/feed/ 0 http://www.farmvetco.org/2009/11/farmers-and-veterans-meet-in-a-barn/ http://www.farmvetco.org/2009/11/farmers-and-veterans-meet-in-a-barn/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:17:11 +0000 cliff http://www.farmvetco.org/?p=603 [...]]]> “Tanks to Tractors” at Toby’s Feed Barn in Pt. Reyes Station gave locals and others (including a reporter from L.A. and a sociologist from France) an opportunity to meet some of the young men and women who have returned home to pursue work on America’s farms.

The event was open for free admission, with good food and drink to enjoy while the speakers spoke and during the social times before and after. Here are some photos from the event:

A down-home venue in a beautiful location, Pt. Reyes Station.

Helge Hellburg, of the main sponsor Marin Organic, welcomes the audience.

Michael O'Gorman, Project Director of FVC, tells its history.

Wendy Johnson, Master Gardener of the Green Gulch Zen Center, prepares to pass around the bell to honor all veterans.

Amy Fairweather, Director of Swords to Plowshares and the Iraq Veteran Project expresses her appreciation of FVC's mission..

Mary Tillman, Gold Star Mother and author speaks in support of FVC.

Veteran and small scale vegetable farmer Matt McCue describes the unforgiving discipline of growing winter squash.

Jeremy Lopez expresses his gratitude to his vineyard mentor Joe Judge.

Wendy Johnson closes the meeting with a story about a pomegranate and its inspirational meaning to a soldier in combat.

Photo courtesy of Coalition for Iraq + Afghanistan Veterans

The Coming Home Project, based in San Francisco, California, is holding a retreat for OIF & OEF family members with deployed loved ones to gather, relax and restore July 25-28, 2009. The retreat will be held at the Angela Center in Santa Rosa, California.

The challenges family members face during their loved one’s deployment are unique and acute: managing separation, communication, parenting, employment, marital concerns, and financial issues are just some of the challenges. Children and teenagers also can find this period extremely stressful.

• Renew mind, body, spirit, and relationships in a beautiful, tranquil setting in Santa Rosa, California.
• Learn relaxation, breathing, movement and other techniques for managing strong feelings, reducing stress and enhancing well-being.
• Improve communication and relationships. Enjoy tennis, volleyball, basketball, swimming, leisurely walks and delicious food.
• Find comfort and strength, safety and trust in the presence of others who know the impacts of serving.
• Share stories and experiences, use writing and drawing to express what is sometimes hard to say, and support and learn from one another. Everything is confidential.

Date: April 16, 2009 Time: 8am-4pm

The summit is a unique opportunity for California veterans, their families and care providers to critically examine existing networks of care for veterans. At the summit, training will be offered on Post Traumatic Stress, transition for combat to community, housing, employment issues and resources for newly separated veterans. The conference will examine mental health issues and their profound impacts on housing, employment, economic stability and social welfare of our state’s military personnel and veterans.

Agenda

Please click the following links for registration:

Attendee Registration Exhibitor Registration

Sponsor Registration

According to Michael O’Gorman, FVC CEO, “The Farmer-Veteran Coalition is a young and unique alliance between leaders in California’s sustainable agriculture and a growing number of men and women returning from the battlefronts of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our mission is to find jobs in agriculture for returning war veterans and this event is about sharing real-life experiences of veterans who are benefiting from training in sustainable agriculture.” O’Gorman, who has farmed vegetables for nearly 40 years, added that, “Six months ago we were working with six veterans; now we are working with twenty, and another thirty have expressed interest in agriculture as a career once they leave active duty.”
Guests of Honor at the event are Gold Star Mothers Mary Tillman, whose son Pat Tillman, a star professional football player, died in Afghanistan, and Nadia McCaffrey, founder of the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation/ The Veterans Village, named after her son who died in Iraq. Other veterans assisted by FVC who will be at the event include:

• Marine Sergeant Colin Archipley served three tours in Iraq. He and his wife Karen used their own funds to start Archi’s Acres Veteering initiative, coordinated with San Diego’s VA Health Care’s CWT/ VI clinic, serves as a working busineserans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) program http://archisacres.com/veterans.html. This pions model for similar projects where trainees work side-by-side with fellow veterans returning to the workforce. Coursework includes hydroponics and organic farming techniques to produce crops such as avocados and basil.
• Matt McCue, an Army combat vet in Iraq who spent last season farming with well-known gardener and restaurateur Dan Smith from the French Garden Restaurant in Sebastopol.  This year he is a starting a CSA of his own with his girl friend and fellow farmer Lily Schneider.
• Josh Anderson grew up farming in the Mid-West before entering the ?Army and then the Peace Corps.  With the help of the FVC he will be entering the prestigious Agro-Ecology program at the University of California Santa Cruz this summer, receiving full financial aid from San Francisco’s Swords to Plowshares veteran assistance programs.
• Jenn Fusaro is a young female Navy vet who wants to farm when she finishes her Master’s thesis at Humboldt State’s Community and Environmental Studies program. She is researching how the post 9-11 veterans can help solve America’s critical need for young farmers.
• Army vet Chris Whitaker, back from two tours in Iraq, runs Fresh Edibles CSA in Stockton, California with his father Bob. Chris is also attending college with the goal to become a doctor while still continuing to farm.

Other young participants in the program unable to attend the dinner include Purple Heart recipient Adam Burke from a small town near Sarasota Florida.  Adam, who was injured by a mortar attack in the Sunni Triangle, was the first member of his family to not go directly into farming.  “I was tired of picking vegetables my whole childhood,” he told us.  “Now I’d give anything to still be able to bend over like that.”  Adam wants to start a blueberry farm with high bush varieties planted in thirty-gallon containers.  “I want a farm where other vets can come and work,” he says.  “That way they can pick even if they lost their legs or have just one arm.”
Event Details
The critically-acclaimed Foreign Cinema Restaurant (see www.foreigncinema.com) is located at 2534 Mission Street, San Francisco and the event starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 28. Tickets are $100.00 each available from Linda Speel at 707-981-8010.
About The Farmer-Veteran Coalition
The mission of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition is to mobilize our food and farming community to create healthy and viable futures for America’s veterans by enlisting their help in building our green economy, rebuilding our rural communities, and securing a safe and healthy food supply for all. For more information visit www.farmvetco.org  or e-mail   info at (@) farmvetco.org or phone (707) 981-8010.
About Archi’s Acres Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) Program
Archi’s Acres Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT) is a nonprofit program in San Diego, California that helps veterans returning from combat make a fresh start. This cooperative effort of Archi’s Acres organic farm and the San Diego Veterans Affairs Compensated Work Therapy/Veterans Industries (VA CWT/ VI) program is s targeted to veterans who may be interested in returning to the work force in the agricultural industry. VSAT’s Bio-Organic Growing course offers trainees a full range of learning experiences that include hands on training and text book learning. Course work includes produce production, from seeds to the end user, and sales channels from wholesalers and retailers to the farmer’s market. For more information visit http://archisacres.com/veterans.html email Linda Poniktera at ?linda@archisacres.com or call (760) 670-5489.