Vets find work, solace in organic farming

[unhappycamper]

Vets find work, solace in organic farming
By Jacob Adelman - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Dec 20, 2009 15:37:10 EST

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. — When Carlos Rivera returned from fighting in Iraq and found work as an electrician, he felt co-workers who knew about his military experience were gawking at him. He went home angry each day.

That’s not a problem at his current job working alongside other combat veterans picking avocados, mixing organic fertilizers and gathering basil amid northern San Diego County’s undulating ochre hills.

“I’m outdoors, not stuck inside somewhere feeling suffocated,” said Rivera, 25, who returned from Iraq in 2007 after four years as a Marine. “There’s always someone to talk to, someone there to understand.”

Rivera works at Archi’s Acres, a 3-acre high-tech organic farm owned by Colin Archipley, who served three tours in Iraq and is trying to help other combat vets shake the trauma of war by turning swords to plowshares.

Working the earth has long been recognized as good therapy for war veterans. About 20 Veterans Affairs Department centers have gardening programs, said Anthony Campinell, the VA’s national director for work therapy programs. He said Archi’s Acres is the only fully commercial enterprise of which he was aware.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_veterans_farming_121809/