Growing up in a two family home had its benefits, especially when the other family was your Italian grandparents. Having my grandparents live in the same house was such a great experience I will never forget. By helping  my grandmother in the kitchen I found a love for cooking, and by helping my grandfather out back in the garden, I found a love for growing food. My grandparents taught me the importance of eating fresh food and caring for that vegetable garden, so it should be no surprise that when I learned  about Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields, memories would drive my hunger to review this film.

The film Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields by Dulanie Ellis and Raymond Singer, is a film that brought back those memories of cooking food with my grandmother and tending to the vegetable garden with my grandfather. This is a film about veterans who are finding that not only is farming something that they need in their lives, but the farming industry needs them just as well. Farming for these veterans will give them the peace and mind they needed ever since returning from the military, especially those returning from war. Although they will be going from battlefields to farmfields, this transition will once again bring them back to what they know best, serving their country.

This film brings us firsthand stories of veterans that find farming to be their new mission in life, but you will also learn that without their help, American farming may be a thing of the past.  You will hear from the farmers who have been in the industry ever since they were kids, but to learn from them that the farming industry is in need of a million new farmers in the near future, makes you believe that veterans could very well be the key to reaching this goal. Our veterans have the ability, the work ethic, the passion and once again have the support of their country to make an incredible impact in the farming industry.

Ever since I returned home from serving back in 2003, cooking and gardening took on a whole new role in my life. Just like the veterans in the film, I also learned that cooking and tending to the vegetable garden was one of the best ways for me to relax and take my mind off of any stress. For these veterans who find it difficult transitioning and/or suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), farming will become their therapy as well. Working side by side with fellow veterans gives them an opportunity to transition together in life, and share their stories with someone who understands.

Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields is a film that not only brings back fond memories of growing up with my grandparents for me, but most importantly it gives veterans a look into a new path that can bring them from battlefields to farm fields. In an industry that is in need of a new generation of farmers, transitioning veterans may be the answer to bringing back good quality American produce to our kitchen tables. An incredible film that I highly recommend to everyone, but a film that I hope inspires more veterans to continue to serve our country, only this time on farmfields.

www.transitioningveteran.com