Vets on the Farm

Two years ago Spokane Conservation District Director Vicki Carter was inspired by the film Ground Operations: From Battlefields to Farmfields. Carter says in addition to that, she also realized that America is losing farmers at a very high rate and the average age of the farmer continues to increase. She felt compelled to begin a program to help Vets find a mission once they arrived home.
Carter: “From there, I looked around in the Spokane area and hoping to find a program that we could be involved in as a Conservation District. There wasn’t one. There was nothing going one. So I started talking to folks with programs in other parts of the country and put this together. Our goal is to create a model that could be portable so that it could be used by other organizations and other entities within Washington State and really within the United States.”
Carter says program’s purpose is to prepare Veterans for agricultural careers through education, internships, mentorships and networking. Careers in agriculture and related fields are perfect for Veterans because the nature of the work takes them from a mentality of destruction, to a life focused on growing, living and nurturing.
She continues with where those interested in learning more can go.
Carter: “So we have a really active Facebook page called Vets on the Farm. But we also do have a website tied to the Spokane County Conservation district’s site at www.sccd.org and they will be able to find the link there.”

 

For more program information and upcoming media events, contact Vicki Carter at vicki-carter@sccd.org or 509-535-7274. You can also visit our website at www.SCCD.org.