Connecting Soldiers with the Land: The first Southern California Food and Farming Veteran Career Fair comes to Santa Monica
The Farmer Veteran Coalition have their first Southern
California Food and Farming Veteran Career Fair on Wednesday June 30th
at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
The purpose of the event is to connect returning veterans with viable
jobs, internships, training programs and two and four year colleges in the food
and farming industry throughout Southern California.
The goal of the Farmer Veteran Coalition is to create a
clearinghouse for job opportunities on farms and in farm-related fields, and
work with individual veterans to find those jobs that fit their specific
interests. This includes employment in regional farms, urban farming and school
garden projects, the wholesale produce, landscaping and ornamental industries
as well as area food artisans:
bakers, butchers, cheese makers and chefs. “Many veterans come from rural
areas, having grown up or worked on farms before their military service. We providing a gateway to go back into
the world of farming,” notes Cliff Figallo, Director of Media and
Communications for the Farmer Veteran Coalition.
“It’s about providing opportunities through creating
connections,” explains Cliff Figallo.
“Veterans will have the opportunity to obtain information on how to be a
chef, work in food distribution, or work at a farmers market. “ Exhibits at the
career fair range from educational to mentoring to interning, including opportunities
for veterans to intern on a working farm so they can see first hand what it
entails to be a farmer.”
The Farmer Veteran Coalition states, “We want to mobilize
the employers in Los Angeles’ enormous fresh produce distribution and
processing industry; its growing urban farming and good food networks; Southern
California’s regional farms; the ornamental and landscaping industry; and the
culinary trades of cooking, baking and butchery to open their doors to well
deserving and highly capable American veterans.”
Along with creating connections there will also be eight
veterans speaking at the Food and Farming Veteran Career Fair who have enter
the food and farming industry since returning from their duties. These include servicemen and women who
have since found employment at farms in San Diego, Santa Cruz, the Greater Bay
area, and an organic farm in Nevada. One such speaker is Marine veteran Colin
Archipley, owner of Archie’s Acres a small-scale farm located in Valley Center,
California, just outside of San Diego.
Since starting his sustainable bio-hydroponic farm in 2007 Archipley has
been providing jobs for other returning veterans.
Food and Farming Veteran Career Fair seems a win win for
both parties involved. “We have
thousands of veterans coming back from their duty looking for jobs, especially
the younger soldiers,” explains Figallo.
“Farming, at the moment, is a profession that is in the decline. Only six percent of farmers are under
thirty five years of age.” The
Farmer-Veteran Coalition notes, “Our agricultural sector needs young
entrepreneurial, trained individuals to revitalize the industry and begin new
farm operations. America’s farms
are facing a crisis for lack of young people going into agriculture.” Most statistics point to the average
American farmer being between 55 and 58 years old with two farmers retiring for
every one entering the field. According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau
of Labor Statistics 2006 report, there are roughly 1.3 million working farmers
in the United States. This study projects a continued decline in both the
number of farmers and farms.
The Farmer Veteran Coalition touts the Food and Farming
Veteran Career Fair as an ideal opportunity for employers to find earnest
workers. “Men and women willing to
work hard through cultivated work ethic, discipline, and focus; who possess a
sense of sacrifice and service; and are eager to learn a new trade.” Farm related careers are also
beneficial for the returning soldiers.
“The veterans attest it’s a great profession to be in. Especially since they just came out of
the military so they’re used to the weird hours that a farmer has to keep,”
states Figallo. “It can also be
very therapeutic for veterans who have issues such as Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder since they are working in the outdoors, away from crowds. It can be quite rewarding to be
breathing fresh air and working with living things everyday.”
This is the second career fair hosted by the Farmer Veteran
Coalition, the first was held in Santa Rosa, located in Sonoma County, in March
of this year. “It’s definitely a much larger scale than Santa Rosa event. We have great expectations to connect
veterans with job in the farming community and industries.“ The Santa Rosa
event hosted 140 plus veterans, representing military generations going back to
WWII, with many Viet Nam veterans as well as younger vets with service in the
past decade.
Attendance to the event is free with healthy food provided
by local farmers as coordinated through the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Seed money for the Santa Monica
event was sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation, the Goldhirsh Foundation, and
comedian Lewis Black the Farming.
Supporters of the event included the California AgrAbility Program,
California FarmLink, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Los Angeles Slow
Food, National Center for Sustainable Agriculture (NCAT), New Directions,
Salvation Army, Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, Teaching Garden, The City of
Santa Monica Office of Sustainability and the Environment, Veteran Business
Outreach Center, and the USDA Farm Service Agency.
The event also offered assistance to those starting their
own farms and food related businesses.
There will be on-site counseling to all veterans. Aid in resume
preparations was also offered prior to event.
The long term goal of the Farmer Veteran Coalition is to
reach 10,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and support those
returning to farming while introducing others to farming as a vocation. The Farmer Veteran Coalition notes
that, “almost two million young men and women have served in our military since
9-11. Many are entering the work force facing unemployment at rates much higher
than the already troubling numbers of the general public. The opening of your
farm, your business and your heart to these deserving men and women is not only
the right thing to do – it makes good business sense.”
Kat Thomas is an adventurer and writer in Santa Monica. Her Food Blog is the Edible
Skinny (www.edibleskinny.com)
