Dallas city leaders will consider turning over a barren parking lot near Deep Ellum to a group of veterans turned farmers.
Famers Assisting Returning Military is a non-profit veterans organization started by a group of North Texas Army veterans that gives returning combat veterans a new mission through farming.
Dallas city leaders will look at leasing an empty parking lot off Good Latimer and Taylor Street to FARM so they can turn it into an urban garden.
FARM runs their operation on a DeSoto farm teaching returning combat soldiers how to readjust to civilian life through agri-therapy.
“This is what we call dirty therapy,” said organizer and army veteran Stephen Smith, who compares working in the garden to a form of meditation. “That helps reprogram the brain.”
Veterans come to the farm to learn how to grow produce, take business classes on how to turn their produce into profits and explore various therapies to cope with the physical and mental effects of war.
Smith said they can decompress from combat in a peaceful place surrounded by those who have shared the same experiences overseas.
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Army veteran James Cunningham lives in Arizona, but stops by the farm when he is in the area just to reconnect with members of his former unit and relax.
“You’re building something. You’re creating something. You’re making life. Instead of what many jobs do in the military – we destroy things, we break stuff," he said. "This is a chance for us to learn how to build something and create something.”
FARM grows produce and raises livestock to sell at the Dallas Farmer’s Market. Smith said being a farmer is a natural transition for returning veterans.
“It’s a job that fits the veteran," he said. "It’s challenging work. It’s hard work. It keeps you on your toes and it gives back to the community.”
Dallas city leaders will look at allowing FARM to lease the land. If all is approved, the veterans will learn how to turn dirt on the property in August.
All the food raised on the property will be available for sale to the public and they plan to host training seminars on gardening.
