Veterans Who Farm: In Service to Our Country, Again

What happens when people who have already served their country find another way to serve?

For some veterans, farming offers a new sense of purpose, community, and connection. But this relationship goes both ways. At a time when American farmers are aging and small farms are disappearing, veterans bring skills, experience, and a commitment to service that agriculture urgently needs.

In this special Veterans Day episode of One Bite is Everything, Dana DiPrima brings together five voices from the veteran farming community to explore what happens when military service meets agriculture.

From raising livestock in Alaska and West Virginia to growing produce in California and oysters in New York, these farmers share how they found their way into agriculture, what they've carried with them from military life, and the challenges they face building and sustaining farms.

The conversation explores leadership, resourcefulness, mentorship, access to land, the importance of community, and why supporting veterans who farm means recognizing the work they're doing today, not only the service they've given in the past.

And sometimes, support is as simple as a pair of wool socks. IYKYK.

Featured Guests:

Kate Bowen, At Ease Orchard & Meadowdale Farm

April Smurda, Growing Roots Farm

Richard Escamilla, Donner Farms

Elizabeth Hernandez, Trillium Family Farm

Mike Miezianka, Toasted Oyster

This episode begins a week of recognizing and supporting farmers who are veterans through For Farmers Movement, leading up to Veterans Day on November 11.

Visit For Farmers Movement to discover their stories and find practical ways to support them, including Wish Lists for Farmers, this week only veteran farmers will be featured.

Eat like it matters. Because it does.