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Chicago farmer named 2024 IL Farmer Veteran of the Year

A retired Marine from Chicago has been named the 2024 Illinois Farmer Veteran of the Year by the Farmer Veteran Coalition. 

Steve Archer II and his brother, also a veteran, started the Archer Urban Farm Initiative last year to reclaim their family’s eighth of an acre urban lot. 

Unfortunately, Steve he tells Brownfield…

“PTSD is a real thing, and my brother had a bad day, but we lost my brother in April,” he says.  “He was out there when we were breaking ground. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there when we started planting.”

But Archer continued and says it’s made a difference in their community…

“It’s not just about producing food that I then take and give away.”  He says, “It is also about allowing an opportunity for children and adults to reconnect with nature.”

Archer has also been working with a local elementary school to introduce the next generation to urban farming…

“But secretly I want them to learn if you have the soil and you have the desire, you can supplement your diet and farmers feed the world.”  He says, “There’s somebody behind each piece of produce, and each animal, each chicken wing, right. And those people sometimes struggle.”

Archer and his father were honored during a recent Coalition event in Springfield. 

The farm is preparing for its second growing season on Chicago’s west side.