A COMMUNITY SUMMIT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS OF VETERANS & THEIR FAMILIES

Farmer-Veteran Coalition Kickoff Event at Foreign Cinema
To Benefit Growing Veterans’ Sustainable Agriculture Movement
Country Joe McDonald Will Entertain Veterans and Supporters,
Gold Star Guests of Honor Mary Tillman and Nadia McCaffrey

January 28, 2009, San Francisco, CA – The Farmer-Veteran Coalition (FVC) will hold its official kickoff event at Foreign Cinema tonight, as a tribute to veterans returning from combat and the growing movement in Sustainable Agriculture programs that supports their needs. Famed singer-songwriter and Navy veteran Country Joe McDonald will entertain veterans and their guests, with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres featuring organic range-fed meat provided by Gulf War veteran farmer Jim Dunlop. 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.

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.