By Jeanette Lombardo
FVC Executive Director
In 1986, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger established April as the Month of the Military Child. Military life can be very stressful on families in general. For children this stress can be heightened with feelings of abandonment and isolation due to long separations, frequent moves, inconsistent training schedules, and the toll of mental and physical injuries on both the service member and their families. Additionally, many of these children are trying to function normally everyday while having parents in harm’s way after being deployed overseas. Let’s all pray for them, their families, and for peace.
The FVC community realizes that families serve too, and we take this time to applaud military families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome. We love the pictures you send us of your families on your farms-working, playing, and simply being together. Please keep them coming!
Just as we support, nurture, and invest in our military children–we must do the same with our planet.
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. At that time, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Air Act, and no Clean Water Act. Earth Day was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental concerns. The United States and countries around the world observe this day to educate the public on ways that we all can improve our planet with the things we do in our everyday lives.
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Investing In Our Planet”. At FVC, our program work has provided our membership information on climate and environmental literacy. In the spirit of Growing Together—the theme of this year’s Farmer Veteran Stakeholders Conference—we have learned the many ways that as farmers and ranchers we can create a more agile and resilient food system while using sustainable practices. So, I salute the entire FVC family who implements these practices—whether growing by the foot in urban America or by the acre in rural America. Know that you are making a difference for our planet and our children’s future.
