BFRDP Projects

From Seed to Table: Military Veteran Training for Sustainable Container Farming Initiatives
[Progress Report]

Award Amount: $599,392
Grant Program: 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 2021 Awards
Project Director: Angela Cottrell
Email: cottrella@umkc.edu
Organization: University of Missouri - Kansas City

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  • Overview
  • Results
  • Materials
  • Delivery Area
  • Comments

Project Overview

As a coalition, the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC)—an academic research institution on the forefront of some of the most important research happening across the country and the world, and the Veterans Community Project (VCP)—a non-profit organization focused on ending military veteran homelessness, have created a sustainable beginning farmer program with specific focus on the military veteran population in Kansas City. While the majority of beginning farmer programs focus on rural farming practices, our proposed effort is focused on urban agriculture solutions as most homeless military veterans live in urban areas.

Our project has executed on three main objectives: (1) Recruited and retained 24 military veteran beginning farmers (MVBF); and (2) Developed a veteran, urban, organic, and sustainable-focused pilot program that can be replicated at future VCP site locations by guaranteeing a market for specialty crops.

Our coalition will focuses on supporting MVBF through employment, education, and entrepreneurship initiatives. We have built out two, 20-foot independent model container farms at the VCP Village, where military veterans have been recruited, selected, and trained on container farm processes, hydroponic systems, technological innovations for increased specialty crop production (farm-STEM training), as well as receive financial, marketing, and entrepreneurship certificate training. Our overarching coalition goal is establish a pathway to economic viability and independence for MVBF through this pilot program.

Number of Participants: 24

Results

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