A Greater Mission /veterans are not transitioning well/Sur

Director's Notes
I first became aware of this story at the Eco-Farm Conference a couple of years ago. This annual event draws the flannel-shirt, organic crowd of farm-related folks. I had a booth to sell my films. The Farmer-Veteran Coalition was having a get-together that night, where Michael O'Gorman explained their program of networking vets with mentor farmers/ranchers/educators. I met two young men, military veterans, who had also served doing agriculture in the Peace Corps together. That really got my interest going.

Since that night I have been driven to tell this story of veterans transitioning back, recovering from the trauma of war, by turning to the gifts of the land through farming. I think the thing that has surprised me most are the veterans themselves. I don't know who I really thought they would be, but I've met a group of deep thinking, innovative, fiercely independent young men and women who are committed to a life of service to their community. And they've chosen organic agriculture as their new mission.

Given what I know about how unsustainable our petrol-chemical-driven food system is, how precarious our food security has become, and the fact that the majority of our farmers are retiring, I realized that we couldn't have a better blessing than these veterans stepping up to take charge. As Michael O'Gorman says, "we need them as much as they need us."

Luckily, I live in California, where a lot of diverse agriculture goes on. So it's been relatively easy to get enough interviews to put together this preview reel to use for fundraising; because this is a much larger, national story that is unfolding rapidly. I'm hoping that anyone who watches it will feel moved to donate something to the film*, so I can get out across America to capture more stories and continue producing this feature documentary that can't get made soon enough. We have many thousands of veterans returning from war. They need jobs and a new missionŠa greater missionŠ when they get here.

*(Anyone who sponsors at $30 or more will get a copy of the film when completed.)

Testimonials
"We all want to be safe, and we all want to eat well, but few of us are willing to get our hands bloody or dirty. "A Greater Mission" movingly demonstrates the profound connection of the battlefield to the farm and illuminates the redemptive power of the latter to help heal the wounded heroes who have suffered so dearly for us."
J.B. White
Screenwriter
"This is fantastic and it's positive. People can learn, feel and I say, "Wow!" It's moving and in the long term, can save all our lives from big corporations killing us with chemicals."
Rita Taggart
Actress, Wife of Haskell Wexler
"I watched the five-minute version, and it's great. I'd like to write a magazine article about the vets' farming project and your documentary."
Jerry Dunn
Columnist and Travel Writer
"Please keep me posted on this. It's such an important film."
Connie Zalk
Princeton Review
"It's an inspirational piece. I'm a vet from a past war and I know what it means."
Arnold Solowa
Talent Manager, Producer
"This program is so obviously a GREAT IDEA and the time has most definitely come."
Albert Ihde, Producer
Santa Barbara Theater Company

"Wow! That's a really powerful reel - both in message and content. The visuals were just incredible!"
Ken Eros
Musician, Music Producer
"This is wonderful! Very exciting! We need to help our returning veterans."
Constance Greenfield
Connecticut Democratic Party Chair
"I got goosebumps, and then the tears welled up."
Kate Martin
Pacifica University
"You've taken what might seem like a not-so-sexy topic of organic agriculture and infused it with passionate stories of the heart."
Nancy Giuliani
Therapist
"What a unique and powerful story. These veterans paid dearly for our energy policy, now they are taking on our food system. Bravo!"
John Willis
Marketing Consultant
"At first I thought, military goes organic? How odd. But as the preview of the film progressed, it absolutely made all the sense in the world to me that these veterans want to give something healthy back to the world. That is their redemption."
Jim Rockwell
Retired Engineer
JOIN THE MISSION:
All donations will receive a copy of the completed film. Contact us about SCREEN CREDITS for larger donations & corporate sponsorships.