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RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) — A veteran wounded in Afghanistan is turning his passion for plants into an effort to bring nutritious food to low-income areas.
Six years ago, Davon Goodwin's Army Reserve unit was hit with an improvised explosive device. It fractured his back and left him with a traumatic brain injury.
Now, Goodwin manages a 466-acre farm and leases 120 acres for another. He said that before the injuries, he focused on himself; now he thinks about other people. And for that, he considers himself a better person.
"I tell people all the time — getting blown up was a gift," he said.
Goodwin had a love for plants and studied biology and botany at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He came to the school in 2007.
After getting hit by the bomb in Afghanistan, Goodwin had post-traumatic stress disorder and needed nontraditional work.
Dr. Neil Griffin and his wife, Soledad, gave him a chance to manage Fussy Gourmet Farms near the Carolina Horse Park in Hoke County. Goodwin leases land from it for OTL Farms, which he said stands for off the land.
"They're just God's gift," he said. "Without them, there's no way I'd be farming."
Farming has a healing effect on Goodwin. Walking in the vineyard or forest relaxes him.
The blast also left Goodwin with narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that causes drowsiness. Farming lets him take a nap if needed. He lives in a camper on the property.
"Because of the injuries I have, farming lets me do my job," he said.
The Fussy Gourmet Farms land is mostly forest, which is used for pine straw. OTL Farms grows muscadine grapes and raises pigs and lambs.
The farms now sell grape juice and pasture-raised pork. Next year, they'll sell lamb and start growing vegetables, which Goodwin hopes to sell locally and across the state.
The farms sell their goods through Sandhills Farm to Table, locally owned grocery stores, and a nature store in Southern Pines.
Goodwin said goats on the farms help manage the land. He also is helping preserve a rare breed called Baylis goats, which are important because of their resistance to parasites.
"Once they're gone, they're gone," he said.
The goats help clear out underbrush, so Goodwin doesn't have to spray herbicide. He only sprays organic products on the farms.
Goodwin said the farms are trying to make it possible for low-income residents to afford organic products, which he said don't have to be expensive. People shouldn't have to drive a long ways to get nutritious food, he said.
"We feed communities that are considered food deserts," he said.
A fifth of children in North Carolina are hungry, Goodwin said.
"That's a problem," he said.
Goodwin said he hopes to inspire young people and black people to consider farming. He said veterans make good farmers because of the mind-set and work ethic needed.
"There's something about being on the land," he said. "When you put your hands in the dirt it changes you."
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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com
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