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Farms for veterans with PTSD could expand across Canada

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A project to create a string of teaching farms across the country to help military veterans transition to civilian life and new jobs is coming to fruition, thanks to the efforts of an Ontario-based management consultant.

“Mental health [problems] are an epidemic in this country,” John Randolph told Yahoo Canada News.

The military has seen an exponential jump in soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In 2007, 5,548 vets were diagnosed with PTSD according to a parliamentary committee report but that number has almost tripled to 14,375 in 2015.

The overall number of veterans who receive disability benefits from Veterans Affairs has doubled to 22,567 during the same period.

“For me this is truly giving back and I know, lots of Canadian feel the same way. They want to help the soldiers,” said Randolph, whose involvement with the military is long.

“Back in the 1990s, I was a consultant [with the federal government] and we cut $3 billion out of the National Defence budget. It was painful and interesting,” Randolph recalls. “I got to know the military, and the admirals and generals became my friends. I came to understand their culture and their problems in real ways after visiting their bases and families.”

Since then, Randolph went on to found Forces & Families in 2007, a volunteer organization that supports current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces. That initiative was sparked by a suggestion from Rick Hillier, the former chief of defence staff from 2005 to 2008. Hillier is a friend that Randolph made back in the 1990s.

Then, a few years ago, when he met vice-admiral Bruce Donaldson about what else he could do for the military, Donaldson emphasized mental health.

“The generals and admirals want to help but they have a lot of bureaucracy to deal with. I don’t,” notes Randolph. “With my connections and my experience in helping link silos in organizations, I can do my bit.”

Growing greenhouse produce

Randolph says he noticed in his work with Forces & Families that a lot of responses came from rural parts of the country and from the families, i.e., wives or children of military members.

“A lot of the issues are in rural Canada where unemployment rates are really high and for members, as they transition, chances of finding a job are low.”

Randolph adds that many also suffer from PTSD and other such issues and it’s hard for them to get help because a “majority of programs are in places like Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal.”

He decided that greenhouse farming would be a good bet and has partnered with Toronto businessman Bobby Sniderman (perhaps best known for his family’s business of Sam the Record Man stores) to launch an R&D project at Sniderman’s 64-hectare farm near Orangeville, Ont.

“He’s allowing us the use of the farmland,” said Randolph. “Along with Niagara College, we will develop a program tailored for veterans to train them in growing greenhouse produce.”

The college is donating equipment and its expertise to the project.

The plan is to eventually form a Veterans Farm Network nationwide for these veterans and their families to provide their produce to supermarkets, restaurants and farmers markets. Some of the produce could include honey, cut flowers, organic greens, winter vegetables and maple syrup.

And it’s no coincidence Randolph decided on agriculture as the form in which to help the ex-soldiers.

“Nature is medicine. We looked at what would be the most beneficial to their mental wellness — not just getting them employment — and the clinical studies point to that,” he said.

“Also, growing flowers or vegetables makes them feel worthwhile … like they are part of something. We need to feel like we belong. Plus a greenhouse doesn’t have the stress of an office. It’s calming.”

DND biggest landowner

In addition, according to Randolph, the Department of Defence is the largest landholder in the country. Getting the land would be easy.

There is a similar program in the United States, which launched four years ago. Veterans to Farmers teaches ex-soldiers how to operate greenhouses and botanical gardens. Just last year, it celebrated its first graduates — 47 ex-pilots, infantrymen and divers.

A local Ontario company is donating the greenhouses to be built on Sniderman’s property — which lies only a half-hour drive from CFB Borden. They will be erected on the property by July 1.

Around the fall, Randolph and his volunteers will be teaming up with soldiers from the base and Niagara College to develop a training course and future support for the vets.

“We hope that by the first quarter of 2017, we will have our first group go through a training course, amounting to about 10 weeks,” said Randolph.

After that, the idea is to sprout training farms across the country — about five to six — and to get more vets into the program.

“Veterans in the remote parts of the country are suffering greatly,” says Randolph. “We finally, as a country, have admitted and accepted there is a problem. We can do something about it.”