[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode of the lori taktarski morning show is produced by cmjw entertainment. This episode is brought to you in part by mha of dutchess county, harmonious healing, bagel world and angels of the andes.
Mental health america of dutchess county and reviver entertainment group presents the sound of nashville in the hudson valley's queen city featuring headliner grand ole opry member and cmt award nominee craig morgan.
With supporting acts two time Grammy nominee Maggie Rose, Finalist of season 19 of the Voice and Hudson Valley native Ian
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Flanagan,
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Viral sensation Jake Banfield and special guest Broadway to country star Brooke Moribro.
The Sound of Nashville one night only Tuesday, October 6th at the Bartaban Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York. Visit bartabon.org for ticket information.
[00:01:08] Speaker C: We at Angels of the Andes are proud to partner and support the Lori Talk Tarski Morning Show. Our mission is to create brighter futures for children living in Peru's highest peaks of the Andes Mountains by supporting families and schools with essential resources and reminding them that there is always hope for tomorrow. Each year we also bring the gift of Christmas. Rooting children enjoy faith and the love of Jesus while reminding them that they are deeply cared for behind their mountains. For more information and to donate, please scan the QR code on the screen and visit the link in the description 100% of your gift goes directly to the mission, helping families where they need it most. Together we can continue reaching the highest peaks.
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[00:03:18] Speaker B: Sun, soil and ancestral foods. Join Veterans Farmstead and Poppy's Smoke for our summer farm dinner benefiting our veterans program. The event will be happening on Patrickville farm on Saturday, August 22nd.
Taste our Texas style barbecue and learn more about how we service the service community in the Hudson Valley. You can scan the QR code on the screen and visit vetfarms.org to learn more. Veterans Farmstead reconnecting service members to nature through sun, soil and ancestral foods to ease their challenges. Join today.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Good morning. Rise and shine to the iconic light.
Coffee in one hand, confidence in the other.
So my coffee mug today says she led a life of endless possibilities. And I'm just blessed to kind of be in a place like that right now. And I'm just really living God's will for me and just opening my mind and heart to endless possibilities. And here we are honored to have Justin Riccobono integral part of the Hudson Valley community. Community. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your mug?
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Sure. Thank you, Lori. My mug is my Veteran Farmsteads mug, which is a program that we have over in Ulster County. We service veterans here in the Hudson Valley. And I have a picture of my dog, my lake dog, Chuck on here, who passed away a few months ago. What's really meaningful about this mug here is a veteran who stayed with us last year. He and his wife made these, made a couple of these for me.
So we have them at the farm. And it was. It was really nice gesture for. For everything we've been able to accomplish.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: Why don't you tell us a little bit about the incredible program in place right now that you started.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Sure. Well, Lori, thank you for having me on the show. Really appreciate it. And just to let you guys know, what we've done is we've. We started a nonprofit called Veteran Farmstead. This just got launched this past April, but for the last three years, we've been running some trials and programs. My father and I are both veterans. My dad's a Navy veteran, Vietnam era. He was a cook in the Navy. And then after he got out of the Navy, he used his GI Bill to go to the Culinary Institute of America here in Hyde Park. And that's why my family is in the Hudson Valley. From the Hudson Valley.
He's from the first graduating class in 1974.
[00:05:38] Speaker C: That's amazing. And the culinary, as many may or may not know, is very prestigious and well known.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: And was started for as a vocational school for GIs coming home from World War II.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: Oh, wow. I didn't know that.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Right. So before they were here in Hyde park, they were in Hartford, Connecticut, and then they had moved over. So my dad was part of the first class here in the Hudson Valley. He's been a chef his whole life.
Myself, I'm an Army veteran.
13 Bravo Field Artillery. From 96 to 2002. I was stationed down at ground zero for about a little over a month after the events of 9 11.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Never forgotten.
[00:06:13] Speaker B: Never forgotten.
And my father and stepmother bought an old farm over in Gardiner, which is right at the base of the Shawangunk Mountains.
And they started a bed and breakfast in 2007. It's got four rooms, bed and breakfast. And everything was going pretty well until Covid things changed quite a bit.
And I was living in Beacon at the time. I ended up selling my house in Beacon and moved out to the farm to help with the succession program of the farm.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: Just a minute. Let me kind of ask you a question. When you were in Beacon, were you involved with the bed and breakfast in any way or you were just kind of living your own world? And not world per se, but doing your own thing?
[00:06:53] Speaker B: I was doing my own thing. So my. My history and background, I. I grew up here in the Hudson Valley. I went to college in Rhode island, went to the University of Rhode island for four years. And then I moved into Manhattan. I lived in Manhattan. I was in sales. I was in technology sales for about 10 years. And I lived in Manhattan from 98 to 08. And then I moved back up to the Hudson Valley, landed in Beacon. My. My dad and stepmom bought the place in 06. And I would come up on the weekends when I was living in the city to help him out. And that was kind of the start of. I got to get back up here. And I was getting tired of the rat race, of course, working for corporate America. And I really wanted to get more into agriculture and farming. It was something that. That was.
[00:07:30] Speaker C: It just always spoke to you or just. It came to you or. As a young person, I mean, did you ever.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: Not. Not really. I mean, as a young person. Not in particular. I mean, I've always liked to cook just because I've been around my dad and my family. We're Italian, so everybody cooks. But not really in the agriculture arena at all. And for some reason, I just found that I really wanted to start where food comes from and growing my own food and learning about. Because we started joining. I joined a CSA and in. In Beacon.
[00:08:01] Speaker C: What's the csa?
[00:08:02] Speaker B: A community supported agriculture.
[00:08:03] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: There's one called Common Ground Farms, which is down at the Stony Kill Farm.
[00:08:07] Speaker C: Yes, I think I've been there, which
[00:08:08] Speaker B: is right in Beacon. And they did a whole thing. And I was eating vegetables that I'd never tried, I almost never tried before. The tomatoes taste completely different than any tomato you can find at a. At a grocery store.
And that really started things up. I had met a girl who was very heavily into horticulture, so I started working with her and helping her on a lot of her projects. And we were handling a lot of estates down in Garrison and Cold Spring Sounds.
[00:08:34] Speaker C: It sounds very interesting.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Very interesting. Beautiful. I mean, starting working with plants. And I just, at that point, I just found, like, that's what I want to do. I wanted. I don't want to be in the office anymore.
[00:08:44] Speaker C: Right. I can't be outside. Yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: And that was probably the first part of, like, the healing process through nature for me, and I kind of felt it firsthand.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: Now, from your time in serving the country and whatnot, did you suffer, like many veterans do, a lot of the post traumatic stress, the different emotions, the different things with mental health challenges?
[00:09:10] Speaker B: I have some mental health challenges, some post traumatic stress, primarily from being out stationed at Ground Zero.
I never really thought about it before. I've never considered it as being a problem because I was never sent off to war. I never thought that that was something that I needed to even consider because I was lucky enough to not have to, A, go to war, B, have significant trauma from war, from a. From a theater, and, you know, never really. You know, it's kind of a survivor. There's a survivor's guilt component that falls into post traumatic stress. And it could be somebody even that does go off to war, but, you know, coming back with all their limbs or comes back and comes back alive, but where we know other soldiers have not had that fortunate.
So that's always a part of. Of something that I think most veterans have, is survivor's guilt.
And it's something that definitely hit me a little bit because I never really considered myself to even qualify to have a problem. But then after.
[00:10:15] Speaker C: Right. You didn't allow yourself.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: I didn't allow myself to understand like you.
[00:10:18] Speaker C: It was like you had done enough or, you know, but yet you that's an incredible thing you did by being serving at, you know, 9 11, you know, and all that.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Sure. Thank you. Yeah, it's, it's been a long road and it's been interesting and I continue to learn more every day and I think the Lord has, has, you know, blessed me with a purpose to help others and other service members. And we have started this program at the farm which, you know, my parents were, like I was saying before, were running a bed and breakfast for many years. And then after Covid, everybody started discovering or during COVID discovering Hudson Valley, they were moving up in droves. And then in 2023 we noticed that our numbers were dropping significantly on our bed and breakfast lodging.
And after doing some research, I noticed that, okay, now we have 200 plus Airbnbs in the neighborhood.
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Which was very competitive. Yeah, it got very competitive. So we were figuring out what we were going to do and my dad and I came to the conclusion that what we want to do is help out homeless vets, help them get back on their feet and convert our bed and breakfast into a nice transition housing for veterans, whether they're coming out of substance abuse or just not having a place to live and helping them back, get back on their feet, you know, putting together a six or ten month program. And it's, and it's changed over the years. So we, we started doing that for three years.
I mean in 20. 20, 24 was when we, when we first started, we, we accepted our first veteran homeless veteran who came in to the farm and he was interested in farming and learning about farms. His family had a farm down in, in Puerto Rico and his goal was to get back down there and learn some skills. And he was with us for eight months and was, they must have been ready to go.
[00:12:06] Speaker C: An enormous bond that takes place during that time.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: It does, we, we take a very non. Clinical approach to this process. I mean my, my, myself, my father and stepmother all live at the farm. So we have our own quarters on one side per se, and then the veterans are on the other side. But we, they become family. Anybody that stays at that farm becomes family with us and we're there for them and help them out and you know, really sit down and identify their goals, aspirations and what they want to accomplish within six months. Because you know, a lot of times if you are in a homeless situation, most likely you're behind on a lot of different things.
[00:12:43] Speaker C: Right. It's a whole process to get back on your feet.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: Yeah. And things are compiling. So we help them kind of go after each one, one by one and help them get to the point where by the end of the program, we find them a place they could live, have, you know, permanent residence as well as a permanent job. And so you have a lot of resources. We have a lot of resources and we connect them with resources that, whether it's the VA or MHA, for instance, or some of the other various agencies that work with veterans.
And we've been working with a lot of people from the community that want to help out and want to get involved.
And our whole thing is healing through sun, soil and ancestral foods. So on our farm we have.
[00:13:23] Speaker C: Can you expand on that a little bit?
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. So on our farm we have a number. We have a very large garden that we cultivate our own, our own crops. Garlic, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, greens.
[00:13:37] Speaker C: Wow, I could really use a salad, right?
[00:13:39] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, we do. And we do a lot of medicinal salads. So we also teach people on things that are just growing wild in the yard that you could actually cult, you could actually pick and, and put into your salad, like dandelion greens or comp, you know, a couple of different, you know, stinging nettles. There's a, there's a couple of different things that are very, that are edible and, or can be used as tinctures for teas that are extremely healing for the body.
[00:14:04] Speaker C: And in what capacity?
[00:14:07] Speaker B: Well, like purslane, for instance, is a wild succulent that grows on the, on the ground very, you know, anywhere, and it has very high in omega 3 vitamins. So, you know, eating that, it's fresh, it's from the guard, it's from the earth, it's not sitting around for a while.
So one of the benefits that we found that we wanted to bring to the program because of my dad's culinary experience, and we've been around food and kitchens our entire lives is teaching people how to cook. A lot of people don't know how to cook or have forgotten or more quick to go out to eat. But you could save a lot of money eating high quality foods if you're, if you're cooking it yourself and if you're cooking it in its natural form. So not adding a lot of sugars, staying away from seed oils.
[00:14:50] Speaker C: Right. And that affects everything because I've learned from my journey that what you eat and what you ingest affects your mental clarity, affects the way your body digest, affects like everything. It's all a component.
[00:15:02] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Operate and how we, you know, regulate and all that.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Well, the gut biome is extremely important. And you know, we're learning more and more about this every year. But the gut, a lot of people consider this the second brain.
[00:15:14] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: So that gut health is very much connected to the mental health and your brain. So having those, the right biology operating in the gut. So people eat a lot of fermented foods to help achieve this success.
And if, of course, if you go and you take antibiotics because you were sick or something, that will actually wipe out your entire gut biome. So to recalibrate it, eat stuff like kimchi or sauerkraut pickles.
You know, also there's a lot of different yogurts that are very good for you. Probiotics with the probiotics. But, you know, you got to be very mindful and do your research in terms of what to, what to eat because you don't want to have some high sugary yogurt that really doesn't have those types of benefits. So, you know, we, when we teach people how to do that.
[00:15:58] Speaker C: So with education, because I know with things that are challenges in my life, so many people aren't aware of the different things involved. And I think what you are doing also in your mission is to educate people on, you know, different things as far as the healthy foods and the healthy living and living collaborate lay within the, you know, the physical, the mental and the spiritual rights.
[00:16:25] Speaker B: You know, for us, everything's interconnected. We're all interconnected. We're a biological species of this, of this planet.
And we need to reconnect. And in, in today's day and age, with so much digital and, you know, synthetic systems out there, it's. We're moving further and further away from source. So we find it to be, we need to find that, that good balance that really a lot of folks really don't talk about.
[00:16:50] Speaker C: It's synthetic rather than authentic.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Right?
So, and I'm not saying, you know, throw away your cell phone, stop watching television. I mean, do them in moderation just like anything else.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: Right?
[00:17:00] Speaker B: So, you know, try to, we try to live on an 80, 20 rule. Like try to be 80 pure and 20%. Hey, you know, if you need, you want to have a piece of cheesecake every once in a while, okay. You know, try to only spend cannoli or a good cannolis. Try to spend 20% of your time, only 20% of your time during the day scrolling or watching television or being on the computer, which I know can be rather difficult, especially for a lot of people's professions because they sit in front of the computer all day and we can become quite problematic. They're inside, they're not in the sun. I mean, the healing of the sun. You're getting pure vitamin D. I call it Divine sunshine. Divine sunshine. It is, yes.
[00:17:35] Speaker C: It's so important. I, I've always been very much, you know, sun worshiper. You have to be careful with that as well. You have to be balanced, you know, because what could possibly happen. But I just feel so much calmer, so much more connected to universe and God and so illuminated.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. And, and the proof is in the pudding. We've had. We've had about 20 veterans come and stay with us over the last three years and we've had.
[00:18:06] Speaker C: Tell me a little bit about some of them, like as if, you know, each one's a, you know.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:18:10] Speaker C: Individual. Tell me a little bit about their stories.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Well, some of them have, have had. Well, everybody's different, so everybody has a different situation. Just like every one of us. You know, we're all, we're all a specific imprint of, of who we are. And we've had some veterans that have had some combat. You know, they've gone on three or four tours and they've gotten hit with IEDs and have had incendiary device. So these are like bombs, road bombs and stuff like that, which are, are some of the typical ones that you, that you would come across, you know, encounter when you're driving in through, you know, through towns, you know, in, in a war theater. But some of them have had, you know, a number of explosions which create traumatic brain injuries or TBIs, as well as some post traumatic stress. So what ends up happening is this brain trauma ends up creating a lot of confusion and misremembering will can occur as well. And then there's a lot of miscommunication that occurs with family members after the fact, or they don't feel like they fit in or they can't do anything or they have to go back to the war theater because that's now the only place that they feel normal.
[00:19:25] Speaker C: It kind of sounds like my experience when I've experienced mental health challenges from my bipolar condition.
You know, when I've been in the hospital, sometimes, you know, when you come out, you don't feel understood, you don't feel, you know, Right. Accepted by society. You know, you feel like that's the only place you can go. But yet that place creates post traumatic stress and creates all that everything else, you know, so.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Right. So it's, it's identifying and recognizing that number one, you're not alone. And a lot, many people, most people on this planet are, have challenges, mental health challenges. I, I really don't think anybody, if you're human, doesn't have a mental health challenge.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: One day or another. I mean, it could be something very simple or it could be something very tech, you know, very, you know, very technical or sophisticated or unknown and, you know, can be very difficult. So, you know, understanding that, seeing what those, what some of the actual, you know, roadblocks might be for you to be able to kind of accomplish what you want to do and then find those resources to try to help mitigate and manage that.
[00:20:31] Speaker C: Right. I think there are many. I think we're getting, you know, in many ways we are progressing as a society. Certain ways we're digressing, you know, but the ways we're progressing, we're finding more solutions.
We're finding, we're actually getting back to things that once worked and we're trying to bring them back to the forefront, like holistic measures, things of that nature.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: There's a lot of studies out there that show just working in the garden with your hands and getting them into the soil.
It, I mean, directly connects you and can have tremendous healing effects, not only from post traumatic stress, but also physical.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: And, you know, could help, I don't want to say cure specific diseases, but help mitigate those because you're, you're now kind of, you know, reconnecting to the, to the biome of the earth and we're part of that naturally.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: So you're seeing something flourish. You're not only is the flowers flourishing and the plants, but you're flourishing.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: You're flourishing. You're, you're bringing life to, you know, you know, to whether it's a plant or working with animals. You know, another thing is we have chickens and rabbits and honeybees. So people working with those creatures, it's amazing because there's no judgment. There's no preconceived judgment. There's no, you know, the chicken's not going to look at you like you're, you know, some, you know, some weird individual.
[00:21:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: You know, it's like, it's, you know, we also, I mean, one of the great things, you know, with, with, you know, my dog Chuck here. Yeah, he was, he was, he was a great companion. And, and of course we, there's a lot of programs that are, that are partnering up veterans with post traumatic stress, with, with service dogs. And these animals show absolute compassion and there's, there's no judgment and They've. It's also shown to be very beneficial.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Yes, they're so loving.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: So we'll help guys. We'll help guys, you know, service members and veterans, you know, connect with, with, with, you know, some dogs, service dogs also, if that's something that they're looking to do and feel that it would help them on their journey. And it's, you know, it's, it's been great.
[00:22:30] Speaker C: Yeah. Justin, you're doing a gamut of things. I mean, you really are. You're delving into all different things to really serve. You're serving once again, you know, you really are. You're serving the community, you're serving the earth, you're serving all of society. So, you know, where do you see this going and what are some of your hopes and what do you see that may, may be a barrier?
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Well, funding is always a barrier. So we work with, we work with a couple of agencies right now that help us with emergency funds to, you know, help house the veterans.
We also do a number of workshops. So we've had, you know, we've had, we probably serve close to 250 veterans, their families and friends, and other people from the community that come to various workshops that we, that we host at the farm.
[00:23:20] Speaker C: How do you bring them in? Do you advertise? Do you.
[00:23:24] Speaker B: We advertise on Facebook. We have a mail, a listserv. We do a couple of other things.
One of the other big things that we have is a commercial kitchen on the farm that we built. My dad and I built and we, we opened up a small barbecue stand called Poppy Smoke.
[00:23:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I think I was blessed to have that outstanding brisket.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:23:42] Speaker C: And those eggs from the chickens. It was unreal.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: Sure. Thank you.
[00:23:46] Speaker C: It was like a hundred dollar meal. And I like snuck in complimentary on that.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we'll have to, you know, maybe we have to raise our prices. I don't know.
Well, I mean, we've, we, you know, our whole thing is cooking from scratch. And we do a Texas style barbecue which is strictly spice rub only. There's no high fructose corn syrup. If we do use any sugars, like in our cornbread, we use honey, which is local.
[00:24:07] Speaker C: And that comes from the bees.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: It comes from our beehives. And if we don't have enough, we usually get some from a neighboring farm.
You know, Honeybrook Farms right up the road from us.
We like to try to do everything very local. So our maple syrup, we deal with Pancake Hollow, which is a, a farm right down the road. Also In Highland. So we, we do a couple of different things, but we try to stick with those sources and not using, you know, some of the processed sugars that are out there as well or, or even those things or even like the, the, you know, sweet and lows and stuff like that. Even worse.
But you know, again, everything in moderation. Even like the honey and maple syrup, you want to be just drenching everything with that. But we try to stick with that. And then we use, we use beef tallow as, as a fat that we cook with and it's a. Basically a beef fat and we render it down. We use that instead of vegetable oils or anything like that. We use a lot of olive oil and we'll also use some avocado oil and coconut oil, which are good oils to use. If people at home are thinking about how should, how can I start to get away from seed oils? Those are the ones that are the best ones. You could start with the, the olive oil. You got to really be.
Take a, you know, special look at. Because a lot. There's a lot of blends and sometimes they blend olive oil with canola oil and some of these other vegetable oils and pass it off as, as. So you want to use like an extra virgin cold pressed olive oil. And typically I don't cook with that too much. Sometimes I do because I'm Italian and that's what we've done. But you know, it's, you know, it's better for, it's better for fresh, you know, using it on salads and stuff like that.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Whereas the tallow, if I'm cooking with, with. With.
With. With beef and whatnot, I'll use the tallow as, as my. As my oil or the avocado oil or the, or the coconut oil.
[00:25:50] Speaker C: Right. So it's being open to learning new ways that are effective, more healthy, that will sustain life, we hope.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Yes.
Prevent inflammation. Reduce inflammation. A lot of these seed oils are being tracked up to. To promote significant inflammation for folks. So these are some of the things. So we started this up. We do a catering program. We raise money through the catering to help operate our program.
We do a couple of dinners a year and we also don't have one coming up.
We have a dinner on the 22nd coming up, which is our, our farm dinner that. Where it's a beef initiative, which we work with a farm.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: Where's the beef?
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Where's the beef? Remember that?
[00:26:28] Speaker C: Yeah, that was a classic. Yeah.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: But we have Kiernan farms, which is right down the road from us They're a partner farm of ours. They're about a mile down. They raise farm grass fed beef and we'll be using their beef for the, for the fundraiser. And people were, you know, of course looking for sponsors and folks if they want to buy a ticket.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: And how would people get in touch? That would be great.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: Let me grab one of my.
You can check us out on, on, on vetfarms.org V E T F A R M S.org that's our website. It's still, it's still in production. I'm kind of a one man band. Me, my dad and, and some other people have been helping out.
But this is our sponsorship program.
[00:27:06] Speaker C: And then okay, so it says Summer Farm Dinner a veterans.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: My vision is oh, Veterans benefit sponsorship packages 8-22-2026.
And you can find this information on our website.
So feel free to, to check it
[email protected] you could also follow us on Facebook at Veterans Farmstead as well as poppy smoke. And you can kind of see where we're located in the Hudson Valley. This, like this tomorrow Thursday we have two pop ups going on one at Kieran.
[00:27:40] Speaker C: What's a pop up?
[00:27:41] Speaker B: A pop up is we just pop up and you know, like a food truck or a food.
[00:27:44] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: You know, food stand. We just set that up somewhere at a special event. So the two special events that are occurring tomorrow is we have at Kiernan's farm on Brunswick Road, we're doing a hamburger event. They have a band coming out organic. So it's actually, we take, we actually use their ground beef.
I picked it up yesterday. So today when I get back to the farm, I'll make my own, my own specialty blend which I put some spices.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:10] Speaker C: By the way, everybody, from what I've learned so far, he's an excellent cook. Excellent cook.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: My dad helps out too. So it's, it's been great. So we go, we'll post up there and we'll cook up burgers and they do like a, a pre order on the burger which is actually quite interesting way that they've done it. So like the last two weeks that we've had this event, they're doing four weekends or four Thursdays out of this off the summer, this Thursday and then in two weeks from, from this Thursday will be the last one. But we've sold out every time before.
[00:28:36] Speaker C: The event says a lot that speaks volume.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: We're selling like 50 hamburger orders before we even walk on the property, which has been great. The other one that we do that we've been doing for the last couple of Thursdays, and it's every Thursday, I think we have three more events, three more Thursdays. Left is the rhythm on the river, which is in the town of. In the town of Shawangunk, which is Walk Hill, New York.
[00:28:58] Speaker C: Now, try saying that 10 times.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: And that is a. That they have a band that comes down and it's free. And we just set up a food stand and we do our brisket, we sell our brisket chicken, and we also do a cornbread, which is. Which is out of this world. So we do a pan seared cornbread, and then we'll actually put like a.
A cream cheese frosting on top for that. So that's a little decadent. So. But you don't want to eat too many too much of that. But. But it's nice and it's.
[00:29:27] Speaker C: It's all moderation.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: It's all in moderation and it's all natural.
[00:29:32] Speaker C: So we do a couple going on. You're just, you know, it's unreal. You have so much going on. You have great ideas, you know, and an idea, you just have to be persevering and, you know, see it through. Keep your eye, no pun intended, on the vision. Right. You know, and what I wanted to get at, I wanted to kind of go back a little bit.
Some of the vets that have come through and you've housed and helped rejuvenate and get back into the communities and whatnot.
Do you keep in touch with any of them? Do you know how they're doing?
And once again, as far as each person being very unique, maybe you could share one or two very profound stories of one or two people that have come through and also tell a little bit about how you've kept in touch and how some of people are doing now.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Sure. Well, yes, we. We keep in touch with all our veterans again. You know, once they land at the farm, they become family. And. And we want that to be very much inherent in our program and so that anybody that does come there, they. They feel that they're not, you know, some kind of a mental number, you know, or another number or whatever, and that they're actually, you know, joining a family and taking some time off to heal at their own pace and get back on track.
So I told you about the one veteran who, you know, he was homeless. He was down in. In Montrose. This was our first veteran, wanted to learn about farming. The VA called me up. One of the guys at the VA called me up and, and told Me about this case and about this service member, a veteran, and that he was, he was home. He was currently homeless and living at the shelter.
So he had interest in what we were doing. We brought him up, we helped train him in, in some agricultural programs and he actually worked at Kiernan's farm also.
[00:31:23] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: They have both. Not only, you know, they not only raise beef, but they also have a vineyard there. So Brunswick Winery is part of their program or part of their farm. So he worked with them on the winery and, and started through the season and ended through the season. So we ended up doing the whole grape harvest. And then his goal was to reconnect with his family down in Puerto Rico, which we helped him do. And he moved down there. He's farming. He's farming down in Puerto Rico. Yes. It was, it was the first time that we started this and it was our first, you know, test on this. And the non profit wasn't started at that time. We were working with a couple of other agencies and.
But it was something we wanted to do as, as a family in transitioning our, our, our farm into helping others.
And then last year, that was two years ago, so I was in 2024, so 2025, we had, we had a number of guys come through, some long term, some short term. And that's when we found that this was more of more than just helping house homeless veterans. It was also a mental health program.
[00:32:25] Speaker C: Oh, yes.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: So we would have guys that would have, would be in crisis and they would maybe come by just for the weekend. Just a cool down.
[00:32:32] Speaker C: Kind of like a respite.
[00:32:33] Speaker B: Yeah, respite. You know, we talk it out. We talk to them, maybe we bring their family in if they, if they were comfortable enough to doing that. Because a lot of times post traumatic stress is not understood by the family members. So trying to help educate mental health issues or mental health issues and then, you know, package that in with a veteran service member who was in a war theater and, you know, doesn't, you know, can't really explain to their wife or children what, what they went through or nor do they maybe want to even explain it. And then there's a lot of communication issues.
[00:33:05] Speaker C: So now why do you call it this? I don't mean to, but why do you call it a war theater? What do you mean by war theater? What is that?
[00:33:12] Speaker B: Well, war is. They've. In the, in military terms, the war is that there's different theaters of war. So like in World War II, which most people are familiar with, there were Two theaters. There was the Pacific Theater and then there was the European Theater. Okay. So like, when active. When active war is going on, they refer to it as a theater. Okay, Sorry. Sorry for that.
[00:33:33] Speaker C: No, I just. I wanted to know. I like to learn things.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: That's fair. And a lot of people might not. May not have understood that either.
So one gentleman had. Had gone through six different tours. No, I'm sorry, four. Four tours. Two. Two in.
Two in Afghanistan, two in Iraq. And he had come back, gosh, maybe eight years ago.
[00:33:57] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: So a lot of his didn't hit, and he was a National Guard member, and then he was doing a lot of the local National Guard stuff, you know, being set up, you know, set up at. On a mission down at, like, Grand Central, securing, you know, some of these stations, just being there, you know, for many years. And then he.
Then his service time was up and he started having a lot of. A lot of challenges, a lot of mental health challenges and not feeling normal, not feeling like he could really do anything. His. His body was starting to break down significantly because he was. Or he had been doing a lot of training. One of the things he was wearing was the slack jacket. Every day he was wearing that vest, which was like £20. And now that he took it off, his body is not used to. Wasn't used to it. So his body was starting to break down and. And deteriorate to a certain degree. And this is something a lot of people don't even really even consider. He never considered it, and it was never even really being discussed about. So now he's having all these ailments that are starting to pop up out of nowhere because now his body is. Is. Is readjusting and readapting to something else.
So that was something we. We noticed and we talked a lot about it and, you know, of course we got him back into the va but before we even.
We found him, you know, a team member of his ended up finding him in Newburgh on the streets.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: And he was in such a.
He was. He was in a lot of disarray. He was in a lot of pain, and he was in. In so much pain that he was considering stepping in front of a train.
[00:35:28] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:35:29] Speaker B: And one of the family services agencies called us up and.
And matched us up and matched us up with them, you know, matched him up with us.
And it was.
It was great, you know, and. And we. We connected immediately.
[00:35:45] Speaker C: So you're actually saving lives, so to speak. You're to save lives, you know.
[00:35:50] Speaker B: Yeah, one, one. One life a time, you know, and it's, and it's one person at a time. And, and some could be not as extreme as maybe the gentleman, you know, the, the, the veteran who we, we helped get back to Puerto Rico. But then some of them could be like the one we just spoke about.
[00:36:08] Speaker C: You're not per se. You're not a therapist or a doctor.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: I'm not.
[00:36:12] Speaker C: Right. So do you bring those clinicians in at all? I mean, through the VA agencies?
[00:36:18] Speaker B: And so we've, we've, we've had a couple clinicians come through.
A lot of the clinicians we deal with are at the va. So you know, one of the things we did for him obviously was, I mean, he was homeless for maybe four months when, when we, when he came to us and we dialed him right into the, into the vet, into the VA at Castle Point and sat down with him and his doctor. I also, you know, I'm a peer specialist myself.
[00:36:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:36:42] Speaker B: And work with the Hudson Valley national center for Veteran Reintegration out of, out of Socrates. And you know, we, we kind of really just write, try to connect them with some of the people. I'm an advocate. So you know what the guys, when, when a veteran comes to the farm and we do hook them back up with the va, you know, we make it imperative that we're advocates for them as well so we can sit down with them. And, and the doctor, when people are
[00:37:06] Speaker C: in that kind of state of mind, they can't always advocate for themselves.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: Right. And plus, if they're staying with us, we want to make sure that they're on the right path. And if the, if the doctor's saying, well, we need to do this, this and this, or stay away from this, that and the other, then we'll, you know, we'll help achieve those successes. And we'd sit down with the doctors at the VA and they've been very at, you know, they've been very helpful. And, and, and you know, we talk about how we try to do a lot of natural healing. We've had, we've had veterans that have come in with, you know, on 18 different medications.
And you know, a lot of it becomes so systematic that these medications start interacting with each other and create, they
[00:37:47] Speaker C: all have side effects, dangerous ones sometimes.
[00:37:50] Speaker B: So we've had guys that have come, we've had other guys come through that have been on opioids for 15 years and their teeth, you know, their teeth and bones are deteriorating because of long term use. So we've, we've helped a Lot of guys get off of some of those things through some natural methods in conjunction with working with their doctor.
[00:38:09] Speaker C: Right. So it's kind of like integrative and I think that's becoming more and more.
[00:38:12] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, we're not doctors and we're not trying to be doctors, but we've, my, my father and I have, we've had a tremendous amount of benefit by eating certain things and, and you know, even dandelion greens having tremendous benefit. So we try to share those stories with others. And then also sitting in with the doctor and saying, hey, look, we want to try to maybe a local approach. I mean, I'm not saying someone could get off their medications like that, because
[00:38:38] Speaker C: some medications, some people need, you know,
[00:38:40] Speaker B: so we would sit down and talk with the doctor and say, well, what do you think? Or, you know, kind of make out a plan. Yeah, make out a plan. Can we start working off of this?
Dialing back on that and, and we'll, we'll see what works.
[00:38:51] Speaker C: Right. Sit with the doctor and assess each person.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Yes. So, so yeah, we've had a couple, you know, so these are different, different scenarios. We've had, you know, a veteran that had come through this year who was in a crisis with his girlfriend. You know, they had kind of tried getting back together a couple of times and it was getting to the point where he needed to get out of there and he kind of felt trapped. And that's something that we, we try to offer with our housing is, is getting back on their feet because it's, you know, it's a tough time today. You know, everything is homeless people, a lot of homeless people. There's a, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, you know, everything is very expensive. So just getting back on your feet is, is very difficult.
[00:39:29] Speaker C: Just staying on your feet, staying on your feet.
[00:39:31] Speaker B: Right. So let alone getting back. So we, we, we give them the opportunity. We work with a couple of agencies that help with the emergency housing.
The veterans do pay a little bit each month, but it's, it's a significant, it's, it's not that, you know, not that much.
So they could actually help start saving up.
One guy who's with us right now, we help him get a new car, we help him get a job.
So, you know, he's on the right track.
Another guy, we, we help him get, you know, you know, get squared away to the point where he's now in a six week training program for heavy equipment and they're going to line him up with a job. So, you know, one day at a time.
[00:40:09] Speaker C: Is this limited to vets? I mean, do you see it maybe
[00:40:11] Speaker B: expanding, you know, as far as the housing side of it? It's something that is very important for us because we know that there's a lot of vets that are on the street. So we really want to try to have that component as far as far as the veterans farmstead is concerned. But as far as, like the healing through sun, soil, ancestral foods and the workshops, you know, we find it to be extremely beneficial for mental health for anybody and everybody's mental health. So we're starting to work with a lot of first responders as well, because they also have very similar PTSD issues as, as veterans. Maybe a little bit different, but very similar.
And then also a lot of people
[00:40:49] Speaker C: have the post traumatic stress disorder just from trauma throughout their lives and different things, right?
[00:40:55] Speaker B: Absolutely. And, you know, being able to help them reconnect with nature is, is, it's really the bigger thing that we're trying to do.
And you know, everybody from the community, not only veterans, not only service member first responders, but, you know, anybody that, that could benefit from our workshops and our education and even just the farm just being there and enjoying the, the birds and the sun.
It's, it's a, it's a, it's a tremendous experience for anybody to come visit. And, and you know, I, you know, I put it out there for everybody. I mean, we're, we're an open, we're an open book over there.
You know, our, our full vision, you know, is, is to really try to replicate what we're doing across the country.
You know, when it comes to veterans and being a veteran, you know, serving this nation never ends. You know, that's an oath that we take when we first, when we first join up, is that even when we're done, you're still, you're still going to be there for the nation if, if it's in crisis and in need. And, and we're, we're at one of those, we're at one of those pivotal points in history of, of mankind, for that matter. Because we have so much digital and synthetic systems happening out there, people are, I think, becoming more and more stressed out because we're moving more further and further away from the biological beings that we are, and we can only process so much.
So as veterans, you know, we also feel that, like, the food system in this country is a big part of it.
[00:42:24] Speaker C: Oh, yes. My doctor told me that by 2030, if it hasn't happened already.
75% of Americans are going to be obese.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: I think we're there already.
The numbers are extremely. They say 70% of military aged men wouldn't even be able to serve because they wouldn't be able to qualify.
And the food system we feel is, it is and it is a national security matter. And what better we have farmers that are aging out in this country and people aren't really, children aren't really being pushed to take those reins over. A lot of people are thinking about it. A lot of people are trying to, are trying to do it. But you know, what better than a veteran or veterans being transitioned into that, into that arena of, of, of food and you know, taking the reins and protecting our food system for the, for this nation.
[00:43:14] Speaker C: Right.
[00:43:15] Speaker B: And you have industrial farms trying to squeeze out all the, the organic small farms.
So you know, our big thing is, is trying to create a local regional food shed. Here in the Hudson Valley we have some of the best growing conditions in the world. I always, I always refer to it as the Tuscany of New York City.
[00:43:33] Speaker C: Lovely.
[00:43:34] Speaker B: And we can grow just about everything here with the exception of citrus and avocados. But we don't necessarily need that to survive.
So there's been a tremendous movement here in the, in the region and I
[00:43:46] Speaker C: think that's what we have to say that people there is going to be a tremendous movement and I think, oh, it's happening.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: It's been happening for, it's been happening. I think it's growing. I think there's this make America healthy again.
[00:43:58] Speaker C: Right. Like minded people.
[00:43:59] Speaker B: I say stuff which is trying to deviate from synthetics and, and, and go back to, to natural.
You know, the thing with the natural foods is there's only a shelf. There's only so much of a shelf life. So you can't buy stuff and sit on it for months on end.
[00:44:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: Which most of the stuff at the grocery store is months is almost, is over a month old. You know, even the tomatoes, they pick tomatoes when they're green so they're not even fully developed yet. So you're not going to get the full vitamin, vitamin benefits of a tomato then if you grabbed one out of your own garden.
So we're big on victory gardens. We do a victory garden workshop at the farm to show people, okay, what is a victory garden? How did they come about which came back. They came about in World War I and World War II, before the Industrial system of food in this country.
The concern was we weren't going to be Able to feed our troops with the food that was being grown. So they asked people to start growing their own. They start asking them to start raising their own chickens. An egg that, from a chicken that you raise is 10 times more beneficial than an egg you buy at the store.
So you can't just say eggs are eggs.
You know, things are radiated.
[00:44:57] Speaker C: That's exactly the truth.
[00:44:58] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly.
[00:45:00] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: So these are, these are ways that we're, you know, we're trying to, to move forward with, with, I, I guess a healthy lifestyle for, for everybody.
[00:45:10] Speaker C: Holistic.
[00:45:11] Speaker B: Holistic, yeah, more holistic. And, and led. Led by veterans and helping veterans kind of reconnect to nature by getting jobs out in the sun, in the field, growing food, helping farmers continue.
And you know, one of the things we've been trying to do is partnering farms with veterans and having veterans live on those farms. So having housing available for vets on farms is something that we're kind of helping strive for because that could help everybody in the long run.
[00:45:40] Speaker C: Definitely. And just to kind of wrap things up, this has been so fascinating. I want to thank you.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:45:45] Speaker C: How do you feel this all kind of really relates to your spirituality and your belief in the Lord or God or what you do believe?
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Well, I'm, I'm not really a, you know, a big churchgoer, so to speak, but I do believe in, in the Creator and our Lord. I think a lot of things have been, I guess, used for and manipulated over the years through various churches and whatnot. So we.
I don't particularly believe in that hard line specifics. I just believe in like the good message of helping our fellow mankind love one another. Yeah. And treat people how you want to be treated and do righteous and be righteous.
Because these are the things that the Lord asked for in the Bible. And you know, cultivating the, cultivating the land was a big thing and it's quite beneficial for the future. So I think this is a purpose that I was set on by God and to help others and to utilize the skills that my family have gained over the years through culinary arts and through farming skills.
[00:46:55] Speaker C: Of who you are, what are some of those like as far as your attributes?
[00:47:00] Speaker B: Well, I'm a pretty outgoing person. You know, I like to work with folks. I mean, I've done a number of different things over the years from I was on city council in the City Beacon for a couple of years and was. Was very much involved. Of course, I'm a veteran, so I was in the army. I've worked for the school district I've worked, you know, I was in a union before so I know a lot of different things out there. I've cooked, you know, for countless years and I was a sales, I was a salesman in New York City selling technologies and fiber optics.
So you know, there's a lot of things that, a lot of knowledge that comes with that and I'm trying to take all of that and really package it into one to help, you know, help others and to show them, you know, some of the benefits of the slow life, you know, living, you know, and healing through sun, soil and ancestral foods, which is our tagline at the Veterans Farmstead.
[00:47:52] Speaker C: That's great. Well, I just want to thank you Justin.
It's been a wonderful time spending with you and everybody. You're going to hear great things from Justin Riccobono once again. How can people reach you?
[00:48:07] Speaker B: Sure. If you guys want to get in touch with us you can check our website
[email protected] that's V E T F A R M S.org or you could give us a call at. My name is Justin Riccobono. I'm the executive director of the Veterans farmstead and my phone number, I could be reached out as area code 845-202-2398.
You could also email me at justin.
Org and you know, if you have any ideas or think you can contribute or you know, of course we're looking for volunteers, we're looking for funding. If people are looking to do donations, we're happy to help or if people are interested in some new programming which you know, I know this is something we've talked about Lori, about doing some other new programming.
[00:48:48] Speaker C: Should we let our.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: We could talk about some of them.
[00:48:51] Speaker C: Why don't we talk about it and wrap it up with something so, so positive.
So Justin and I have been very aligned on. He has a beautiful, well, it's not exactly beautiful as of yet but if you, if you envision it, it's beautiful. A barn on his, his beyond beautiful 5 acre land.
And Justin and I were speaking about having it renovated into a home of holy istic healing.
[00:49:21] Speaker B: Right.
[00:49:22] Speaker C: Have it faith based and also holistically based and also kind of western eastern philosophy and have all kinds of modalities, therapies and you know, that's what we're working on getting funding on right now and we've been blessed to have some networking opportunities so we'll be pursuing those.
Anything you want to wrap it up with?
[00:49:46] Speaker B: Well, I could say is, you know, keep the faith, you know, and, you know, get outside, get in the sun, you know, and maybe get in the garden, you know, start gardening. Try to, try to. Even if you could do a little plot, if you don't have land on your own property, you could do bucket gardening, which is like a five gallon bucket. You could grow tomatoes in that or peppers. But at least start somewhere, you know, and, and start reading those labels on your food. There's a good app that I use, it's called Yuka. Yuka. It's an app and you could scan any barcode of all the food and it'll kind of give you, you know, the benefits, the pros and the cons of the food. So on a scale of 1 to 100, it'll give a rating. And it'll also give you an alternative, you know, of quality food. It's free, you know, so you could download that. I mean, that's a good step in the right direction as far as healthy eating, which. Which of course translates to. To a healthy mind and a healthy
[00:50:37] Speaker C: heart and a healthy spirit.
[00:50:39] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:50:40] Speaker C: So.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: Well, thank you very much. Thank you, Lori.
