New Jersey veteran Stephen Robinson thinks about the logistics of growing mushrooms and shipping them to farmers markets and restaurants — a far cry from what he managed as an Army convoy commander during the fighting in Iraq.
He runs an urban farm in southern New Jersey named urban farmer steveWhere he grows mushrooms, microgreens, vegetables and flowers.
“Mushrooms have become my passion, I eat a lot of mushrooms, grow mushrooms for farmers markets and restaurants,” he said. Farming and being around agriculture “just gives me life, gives me energy – and gives me hope.”
Veterans like Robinson are increasingly drawn to agriculture, a field historically associated with the military. 1 in 6 farms has a grower Who is currently serving or who has served in the military. However, the number of military farmers has declined in recent years. In 2022, there were 305,753 producers in the US who had served or were serving in the military, according to The Agriculture Department census has declined 18% since 2017.
To help stem the decline, provide career opportunities, and attract the changing veteran demographic, training programs focused on returning veterans to the field have been initiated. Robinson sees himself as part of a new crop of farmers, a city-dweller who grew up in Philadelphia and New Jersey and returned from the war to urban environments.
A Black veteran, Robinson envisions helping others in his community learn about the opportunities he says are abundant in farming, even in the city — and “those who might look different.” There are resources and opportunities available to people.
From battlefield to urban arena
When Robinson enlisted in the Army during his freshman year in college, just after the September 11 attacks, he couldn't have imagined the journey he would take.
“It brought the country together,” Robinson said.
His father had served in the Navy and Air Force, so it seemed natural. He was commissioned as an officer in 2003, but before completing his four-year degree, he was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
“It was a very hot time when I was there, we were shot at, bombed,” said Robinson, now 41. “We were on the road with the IED, we were in a lot of trouble at that time.”
he left military service 2010 and, like many other veterans, didn't know what to do next. He found it difficult to escape an environment where you are “on shore” all the time, “trained to be alert” and “always ready for an attack” or “for something crazy to happen.”
“It's hard to shut down or shut down once you get out of the military,” he said.
“Honestly, I still haven't adjusted to civilian life,” Robinson said. “It's something we're all still working on.”
She also took several jobs as a claims representative at the Social Security Administration – but couldn't find the right fit.
then he found Farmers for Veterans, a Colorado-based nonprofitThrough online research. Marine Corps veteran Buck Adams launched the organization in 2013 after five years of running his own farm, Circle Fresh Farms, and training veterans in agriculture.
Since its founding and first training program, veterans have led the organization. Navy veteran and Executive Director Taylor Drew participated in the program in 2017. He now farms in the mountains of Northwest Colorado with his wife and three children.
“It's a good life, but a hard life,” Drew said. He said that after leaving the army and stumbling around for a few years, he had never been more satisfied.
Drew helps manage the organization and he says there is a desperate need for experienced people moving into farming. He says his small organization has trained 220 veterans since 2013 and the network is “really strong.”
Supported by a mix of government money and private donations with a rough budget of $250,000 annually, Drew said the group had 150 applications for 18 slots in their hydroponics (controlled cultivation) program last year.
Participant and Navy veteran John Bauman, who is from Chicago, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and now rents two plots of land near Denver, selling his produce at farmers markets. His first crop was carrots, and said farming helps him “feel better”.
a new kind of farmer
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as the number of veterans living in the U.S. is declining, its demographics are also changing. Population models show that women, Hispanics, blacks and adults under the age of 50 will form a larger share of the veteran population by 2048. According to a 2023 study The Pew Research Center is meeting the needs of veterans interested in farming. The Agriculture Department census found that the number of black farmers with military service also increased by 2.5% among producers with military service, compared to 1.2% among all U.S. producers.
Indiana Republican Senator Mike Brown said, “We must do more to support apprenticeships and train the next generation of farmers.” wrote In a report on the county's rapidly aging farmers. Americans are more likely to meet a farmer over the age of 65 than a farmer under the age of 44, and with a Expected to increase by 2 billion people globally by 2050 – There must be enough farmers to grow food. “The food supply, select manufacturing industries and even national security depend on the future of farming,” Braun said.
Supporting urban farmers could be part of the solution, urban farmers are generally younger than the total farming population, with an average age of 44 years, 32% earn a living from farming, According For the National Center for Appropriate Technology report.
Veterans Administration provides many programs to help experienced people learn to farm, and other non-profits provide services, such as Armed to Farm, which offers a program In urban farming in New Orleans and Farmer Veteran AllianceWhich provides assistance for veterans entering the field.
The USDA's Farm Service Agency has provided loans totaling $862 million as of Oct. 31, helping more than 4,000 veterans, but many say demand far exceeds supply, the federal agency told CBS News. .
“We are seeing a continued increase in interest in the veteran demographic to build a life and career around agriculture – in both urban and rural settings,” said Jaime Wood, director of strategic initiatives at USDA, who works to support the veteran population. ” , told CBS News. He said the USDA team has a full-time veteran contact tracer who previously served in the military.
Urban technologies bring fulfillment to the past
Robinson applied to participate From veterans to farmers program in the fall of 2021, he said the pandemic gave him an extra push into farming. “I saw limited food and lack of produce,”
They launched an 8-10 week program in 2022, flying from New Jersey to Denver for the hydroponic program. which is technology Growing plants using water-based nutrient solutions instead of soil.
On Monday, veterans enrolled in the program received a crash course in “Agriculture 101” and on Tuesday, they got hands-on work at various farms and tours to learn about farming operations.
Since he lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where the winters are cold, Robinson thought it was important to learn hydroponic farming, which controls the growing environment and gives a lot of control over what is grown and how it is grown. Allows.
“It's also very consistent,” he said.
Robinson started cultivating microgreens, which he said does not require much initial investment and can grow within 10-14 days. They soon expanded their microgreen products to include lettuce, herbs and mushrooms, which are easy to grow in urban environments. He sells them to restaurants and farmers' markets and consumers.
researcher The National Center for Appropriate Technology found that urban farmers can raise crops and livestock and also be structured around “social aspects related to urban agriculture, including food security, building communities, and education.”
Urban agriculture has its limits, with research showing that half of urban farms surveyed in 2013 had sales of around $10,000 and must have another form of income to survive. The research found that urban farms often do not have the scale to grow large quantities of food and instead focus on selling niche products to small-volume customers, emphasizing quality and price over quantity.
Robinson said that despite the challenges he is committed to growing his business because it is not just about money, but also about personal satisfaction. Learning to farm has completely changed his outlook and life in the last two years and he no longer has to struggle like before.
“When you're connected to the Earth, you're connected to the Earth,” Robinson said. “I feel like you get all that from farming.”
Farming keeps him connected to his community and his life's mission has shifted from taking life to “just being around life.”