MOBILIZING VETERANS to Feed America by Keith Sutton
In May 2007, longtime farmer Michael O’Gorman invited fellow farmers from several southern California counties to a meeting he had been planning for some time. He wanted to see if the group could come up with ways to create farm jobs for veterans returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I believe deeply in American agriculture and the rich reward it can give to all who take part in it,” he said. Sharing that opportunity with men and women coming home from war was a vision he’d had for years. Among those attending that first meeting were three women who had lost their sons in overseas combat: Nadia McCaffrey, Dolores Kesterson and Mary Tillman, mother of Pat Tillman, who left a lucrative NFL career to serve his country. The idea of opening up farms — and all the beauty, peace and opportunity they provide — to those returning from war, captivated them and the others in attendance. Before the day ended, the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) was born. “Our plan was simple: find a way to help these veterans and then tell their stories,” O’Gorman said. “It felt positive, optimistic and healing for all of us.”
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Connecting veterans to agriculture was something that no one had tried in modern times,” said O’Gorman. “To take that idea and turn it into what FVC is today — with 20,000 members, support across the federal government and a vast network of partnering groups now helping this effort — has been the hardest thing I have done. Front Porch
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ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU • SUMMER 2020
