Opportunities to build on skills learned in their rich experiences to provide for themselves and their families while also working in a therapeutic environment that can help them adjust

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Purdue University $549,995 on September 15, 2025, under the Food Safety Outreach Program (CFDA 10.328) to develop and evaluate a virtual reality technical support tool for food safety training targeting veteran and disabled farmers.

The project addresses documented barriers to food safety regulation compliance specific to veteran farmers and the preference among small-acreage farmers for virtual training that accommodates self-paced learning without travel. Traditional virtual training lacks hands-on components essential to food safety education effectiveness. The project team will develop a VR technical support tool incorporating topics in food safety management and food safety culture identified by stakeholder input, designed to optimize food safety education and communication for this population while enabling veterans and disabled farmers to build business capacity in farming operations requiring food safety management plans.

Performance runs through September 29, 2028, at West Lafayette, Indiana. Florida A&M University, Division of Research, received a sub-award dated June 11, 2026 (amount not specified in source), to deliver virtual reality and hands-on food safety training components under the project.

Veteran farmers and disabled farmers, like other small acreage farmers, must implement food safety management plans to develop farming business. Previous research showed that veteran farmers have unique barriers to food safety regulation compliance, also demonstrated the importance of developing food safety training to address those barriers. Virtual trainings are preferred by many small farmers, since IT saves travel time and allows self-pacing learning experience. Traditional virtual training is often criticized for missing the hands-on component, which was an essential success factor for effective food safety training. The project team will develop a virtual reality (VR) technical support tool to address those challenges, with topics in food safety management and food safety culture that are identified by the stakeholders. By developing and evaluating this program, we are closer to optimize the food safety education and communication for veteran and disabled farmers.