Page 11 - Valley Life & Health

THE MORNING CALL SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2019 11

Me
MeetYour Local Grower: A Veteran Finds New Purpose in Organic AgricultureetYour Local Grower: A Veteran Finds New Purpose in Organic Agriculture

Many organic farms are veteran-ny organic farms are veteran-
Ma
Many organic farms are veteran-
owned or employ veterans in their
owned or employ veterans in their
fields. Bartlett described how much
fields. Bartlett described how much of of
the manual work she does at Rodale
Institute mirrored her duties in the
Army. This work allows her to feel a
renewed sense of purpose.
The Rodale Institute Veteran Farmer Training program allows former
servicemembers to learn about a career in organic agriculture through hands-
on experience and engagement with a network of industry professionals and
experts. Veteran Farmer trainees are paid and can immerse themselves in the
growing process through daily farm work.
For consumers, there have always been many benefits to eating organic
produce fresh from a local farm: better nutrition, better taste, and less energy
use, to name a few. Purchasing organic produce from local farms connects
consumers to their food in a way that is not possible in larger-scale operations.
“In just the few months I’ve been here, eating the food we grow here, I
can tell the difference. It just tastes better and you can pick it right out of the
ground,” said Bartlett. “You can’t do that with anything else.”
Bartlett hopes to take what she’s learning in the fields of Rodale Institute to
start her own greenhouse operation back in her home state of West Virginia.
“I want to be self-sufficient and work for myself,” she said. “I’d like to find other
veteran programs to work with.”
Consider the benefits to your local farmer the next time you think about
buying regional organic food. Our food choices have the power not only to heal
our bodies, but to heal our communities as well.
Photo courtesy of Rodale Institute Rodale Institute’s Veteran Farmer Training program is still accepting
Leah Bartlett found her life’s purpose in organic farming. applications for the 2019 growing season. If interested, visit RodaleInstitute.org/
Veterans for more information.
eah Bartlett had no experience with farms. She grew up in a military
family, moving around the country every few years. But in the spring
L of 2019, Bartlett found herself planting thousands of onions in Rodale DEDICATED
Institute’s organic fields in Kutztown.
It all started in Kansas City, Missouri at a Farmer Veteran Coalition DERMATOLOGY
conference in 2018. After serving three years in the U.S. Army and spending
another four years getting her degree, Bartlett was looking for a new R.E. Geffner MD 570-800-2001
direction for her life.
An Army friend who had invited Bartlett to the conference explained to dedicateddermatology.com
her how farm work had been therapeutic for him. Bartlett was led to the
Rodale Institute Veteran Farmer Training program and applied to become a MOST INSURANCES ACCEPTED
trainee for the 2019 growing season.
Veteran trainees, along with interns and staff, grow a variety of organic
produce at Rodale Institute that makes its way to the greater Lehigh Valley Christine Sosnowski, NP Do you know which moles are deadly?
population through the Institute’s Agriculture Supported Communities WE DO!
(ASC) farm share program.
“We’re growing lettuce, kale, spinach, beets, carrots, squash, cucumbers, Skin Cancer is Curable.
and more,” Bartlett described.
The produce grown on the Rodale Institute farm will be distributed to Diseases of the Skin, Hair & Nails
ASC members in weekly farm share boxes this summer, focusing specifically
on serving “food desert” neighborhoods like Allentown and Reading, which Erika Lutkins, NP We Specialize in MOHS
have little to no access to fresh produce.
For those who don’t receive the farm share, ASC also holds a Farmers Surgery for Cancer
Market selling organic products every Saturday from June to October at the
Allentown YMCA. The ASC program accepts food assistance programs like
SNAP, WIC, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program. — LOCATIONS —
For Bartlett, the hands-on nature of the Veteran Farmer Training 1536 Northampton St. Easton, PA 18042
program was attractive. “It’s good to get outside and have a way to stay Amy DePalma, NP 281 N 12th St. Ste. 2B, Lehighton, PA 18235
busy, to do something useful again,” Bartlett explained. “It’s healthier to 2895 Hamilton Blvd. Ste. 202, Allentown, PA 18104
spend all day outside.” 300 East Brown St., Ste. C, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301
Programs like this underscore the wide-ranging effects of investment
in an organic system that feeds its community. An organic farm isn’t just 701 W. Union Blvd. Suite 5, Bethlehem PA 18018
CALL TODAY!
growing food; it’s growing connections between people and the land.
Trisha Gill, NP