Homegrown By Heroes

The Homegrown By Heroes marketing initiative will afford farmers and/or agricultural producers located within the Commonwealth of Kentucky and who have served in any of the branches of the United States Military (U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard) the ability to use the Homegrown By Heroes logo on their agribusiness signage and/or agriculture products. This distinctive logo will serve as identification to prospective consumers that the products were locally grown or raised by a veteran. From the grocery shelf to the farmers' market to on-line retail, this label will hopefully serve as an extra incentive to consumers when making a purchase decision.

Goals for Homegrown By Heroes
• Provide Kentucky farmers who served in the military distinctive marketing/branding power to their locally grown and raised agriculture products at the point of sale.
• Afford consumers the opportunity to identify agriculture products produced by Kentucky Proud veteran-farmers at the point of sale.
• Afford consumers the opportunity to support Kentucky Proud veteran-farmers by identifying and purchasing their agriculture products at the point of sale.

Eligibility Requirements
1. Farmers and/or agricultural producers located within the Commonwealth of Kentucky and who have served in any of the branches of the United States Military (U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard) are eligible to use the Homegrown by Heroes logo on their farm or agribusiness signage and/or on their agricultural products. This distinctive logo will serve as identification to prospective consumers at the point of sale that the product(s) were grown, raised, or produced locally by a veteran of the United States Military. This logo will hopefully serve as an additional incentive to consumers when making purchasing decisions.

2. Any veteran of the United States Military, regardless of when, where, or how they served, and who has a farming operation or agribusiness located within the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is eligible to participate in the Homegrown by Heroes program.

3. In order to participate in the Homegrown by Heroes program:
A. The individual must be a member of the Kentucky Proud program.
B. The individual must provide documentation verifying their veteran status. This is done by providing a copy of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation).

4. The Homegrown by Heroes logo can be used on the veteran-farmer's/agricultural producer's Kentucky Proud products and on any signage, websites, social media outlets, etc. where these products are promoted.

5. Any current Kentucky Proud program member (i.e. restaurants, foodservice institutions, schools, retailers, etc.) that purchases products from veteran-farmer/agricultural producer who is a member of the Kentucky Proud program is also eligible to participate in the Homegrown by Heroes program. In this instance, the Kentucky Proud program member can use the Homegrown by Heroes logo to identify only the particular products which were obtained from a military veteran farmer/agricultural producer who is a member of the Kentucky Proud program.

Jobs for Vets

Kentucky Proud Jobs For Vets
This program is a strategic partnership initiative between the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) and USA Cares, a Kentucky-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing financial and advocacy support to military members, veterans, and their families since 2003. KDA and USA Cares established this initiative to match veterans who have served in any of the branches of the United States Military (U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard), ranging from Vietnam to post-9/11 service, needing good jobs with Kentucky-based farmers and agribusinesses needing quality labor. The initiative will be expanded to other veterans' services organizations to ensure that all military veterans and active members of the Kentucky National Guard have the opportunity to participate. Any Kentucky Proud farm or agriculture-related business is eligible to participate. Jobs in this program may be full time, part time or seasonal.

Goals for Kentucky Proud Jobs for Vets:
• To match farmers needing quality labor with veterans needing immediate employment.
• To provide veterans an open gate to a career in Kentucky agriculture. This initiative will provide veterans who are considering a career in agriculture with "On-the-Job" agriculture training so they will just not have a job, but an exciting and unique career skill set. At the same time, this initiative will provide Kentucky Proud members the unique opportunity to become "mentors" by teaching agriculture-specific skill sets to veterans. This, in turn, will spur a new generation of Kentucky farmers while at the same time aiding in the preservation of Kentucky's farm heritage.
• To provide consumers the ability to support Kentucky Proud farms and agribusinesses that are actively hiring veterans.

Interested in Hiring a Veteran?