HomeGrown, a new farm-to-table initiative at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) Domiciliary Program at the Hastings Veterans Home, is bringing fresh produce grown on site by its Residents and staff to its own kitchen for healthy, quality meals. HomeGrown is also connecting Residents with food to bring increased meaningfulness of quality meals to their health and well-being.

From the beginning, HomeGrown has been a collective effort of Residents, volunteers and staff. Early summer 2021, a volunteer graciously constructed six elevated garden beds with the help of the Domiciliary Program’s on-site woodshop. Residents and staff filled the beds with about 80 starter plants including varieties of tomatoes, lettuce, beans, squash, peppers and herbs. The Residents are maintaining the beds, harvesting the crops and delivering the produce to the kitchen where it is immediately used in meals. A Dakota County Master Gardener even came in to give advice on growing, watering and harvesting. Pounds of lettuce and dozens of cucumbers have already been made into side salads for the Veterans Residents.

Other benefits of HomeGrown include Residents participating in the Domiciliary’s operations; Residents and staff learning food, nutrition, and growing practices; reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to food processing and transportation; and reduced waste through a decrease in food packaging.

MDVA hopes to expand HomeGrown by partnering with local farmers to supplement the produce grown on-site and canning veggies that could be used during the winter.

About the MDVA Domiciliary Program
The Domiciliary Program, located on the two State Veterans Homes campuses in Hastings and Minneapolis, provides an independent living environment to any eligible Veterans, and/or their spouses, that includes medical management, mental health care, sobriety management and vocational rehabilitation/work therapy. The Domiciliary Program is licensed as a boarding care facility and is operated and managed by the Minnesota Veterans Homes; however, it is not a nursing home.