Bridging the Gap by Listening to the Needs:  A Multi-State Survey and Interview Study for Military Veteran Farmers in the United States

Military veteran farmers constitute a niche group who encounter unique barriers in obtaining food safety education. Previous research has shown that food safety training can achieve better outcomes when materials are tailored to the intended audience. This study used a combination of qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (surveys) data collection to identify the on-farm food safety practices and resource needs of U.S. military veterans who are farmers. An online survey was administered nationwide in March 2023. The survey was distributed using a list of military veteran farmers through the Farmer Veteran Coalition. The interviews consisted of in-person interviews conducted on a multi-state level in 2022–2023 at regional and national agricultural conferences. A total of 550 survey participants were included for analysis and 28 interview participants. The survey indicated only 51% of participants previously had received food safety training. Both the survey and interviews identified barriers to accessing food safety training, for example a lack of time, lack of information and limited technology. The survey reported format preferences for on-farm food safety education were email (n = 343, 62%), in-person workshops (n = 337, 61%) and online videos (n = 308, 56%). These findings will guide the development of food safety educational materials for military veteran farmers.