FARMERS AND VETERANS MEET IN MANHATTAN

“The War and Rural America.” is a public forum and meeting being held at The Warwick Hotel, 65 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 Saturday, September 8, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is being hosted by: Farms Not Arms and Family Farm Defenders.

As thousands gather to attend the 26th annual FarmAid concert to benefit America’s family farmer, held this year on an island near Manhattan, a group of farmers and veterans are meeting to call attention to an issue receiving little attention in today’s headlines, the burden on rural communities after six years of war. The Carsey Institute Report indicates that small towns and rural areas across the country bear drastically disproportionate numbers of fatalities in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Global war, global warming, and the excessive use of fossil fuels are adding to the already existing crises of loss of farmland, family farmers and economic opportunity in rural America.

Now hundreds of thousands of young men and women are returning from war to these very communities without adequate health care, counseling or vocational training.

The public forum on “The War and Rural America,” will focus on changing our nation’s priorities from war and destruction to a constructive program of support for family farmers, regional agriculture, growing of bio-fuels and creating of job opportunities on our farms for returning veterans.

Speakers will include:

• William O’Hare, University of New Hampshire, author of the Casey Institute report on rural casualties.
• George Naylor, Iowa soybean farmer, President of National Family Farm Coalition
• Jim Goodman, Wisconsin beef and dairy farmer, speaking for Family Farm Defenders
• Roger Allison, Missouri hog farmer, Executive Director, Missouri Rural Crisis Center
• Ronnie Cummins, President, Organic Consumers Association
• Nadia McCaffrey, Gold Star Mother, founder, Veterans Village
• Steve Ledwell, Field director, Veterans Victory Farm, New Hampshire
• Matt Mccue, Iraq war veteran and currently a farmer in Niger, Africa as a Peace Co

The event will also mark the announcement of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, the building of a politically neutral organization that will work to provide farm jobs, job training and land for deserving veterans and infuse our nation’s food production with young people already acquainted with hard work and sacrifice.

Contact: Douglas Stevenson, Farms Not Arms, douglas@farmsnotarms.org, www.farmsnotarms.org, 931-964-2590

425 Farm Road, Suite 5
Summertown, Tennessee 38483