How an Afghanistan veteran became a grower

Mark Benoit is the head grower at BrightFarms Capitol Greenhouse in Elkwood, Virginia, where he oversees, year-round, 200,000 square feet of greenhouses. The Atlantic talked to Benoit, who served in Afghanistan, about how he got into agriculture, what he likes about working with greenhouses, and how the transition from the army has changed him.

What is BrightFarms, and what do you do there?
I'm the head grower for BrightFarms here in Elkwood, Virginia. BrightFarms is basically a startup that builds and operates greenhouse farms in partnership with different supermarket chains. We want to create the first national brand of local produce, and we currently specialize in hydroponic tomatoes and cut salad greens.

We work with local retailers—around here it's Giant, Wegmans, Martin’s, Peapod, Roundy's. We basically just deliver fresh produce to them and cut down on the number of miles food travels. We scale with them [by increasing or decreasing the quantity of crops] as well; we do that year-round.

How did you get into growing hydroponic plants?
My story is rather unique. I got into this industry after my last stint in Afghanistan. I was over there for three years, as both a soldier in the Army and a private contractor. On my last day in Afghanistan, I was on the top of this mountainside with a bunch of my Afghan counterparts and we were digging a machine-gun pit.

I remember it being really hot. I was in full battle rattle: You have all your kit on—your pack, your rifle, everything, and so I was just sweating like there was no tomorrow. I pulled down my binoculars while we were digging, and I saw this guy with a pitchfork digging. I thought, “This is not good,” because normally when you see guys digging over there, they're putting roadside bombs down.

I was watching him, and he was just digging an irrigation ditch. He walked over and moved this clump of clay and water ran down all his fields and I thought, “Wow.” I'm up here digging with a pickaxe, and this guy is down there [with] a nice cool breeze, watering his crops, just having a great day. I thought that was something I could get into. And so I did.

Read the full interview at The Atlantic