Heroic Food is an opportunity to train veterans for employment that is surprisingly congruous with their past experiences, while also helping to solve America’s farming crisis. With six times more farmers over the age of 65 than farmers 34 and under (according to a study by the National Young Farmers’ Coalition), the United States is facing a dangerous situation for the future of our food supply. One of the biggest problems with recruiting young farmers, in addition to higher costs of farm startup and operation, is that not everyone has the drive, determination and stamina necessary to work a farm successfully. Thomas Burrall, Heroic Food’s Program and Training Director and a veteran himself, explains that these characteristics are already deeply ingrained in service women and men.
“Somebody’s that’s in the military, they have a different mindset,” Burrall told us. “They’re organized, they’re disciplined. They learn certain character traits that really fit well with farming.”