Business Monday: Veteran transitions from Army chemical operations to Big Island farmer

Amanda Cox served 15 years in the U.S. Army as a chemical operations specialist before an unexpected brain aneurysm, which she was lucky to survive, led to early retirement at the rank of Sergeant 1st Class.

“Transitioning to civilian life was hard at first,” she said. “I ranked quickly before the (brain) surgery and I wasn’t really ready to retire. I was much more structured in my life, but surprisingly now my anxiety is so much lower.”

At age 45, she is coming into her own as a farmer, a producer and a small business owner of I Ka Ua Farm in Hilo.  Cox sells plant starts, fresh vegetables and compost worms from her 6-acre farm.

For the past three years Cox has been learning about agriculture in Hawaiʻi and growing her small business with the help of Hoʻola Farms, an educational training program in agriculture that emphasizes serving military veterans and first responders. 

“I qualified for the scholarship program which was life changing for me, especially as they have continued to guide and mentor me,” Cox said. “While I was learning how to farm on my own, I was learning so much about value added products.”

It has been a big change from life in the Army, which she joined straight out of high school in 1997. After meeting her now ex-husband during an Army recruitment job in California, they moved to Georgia where they were stationed at Fort Stewart.

In 2009, she deployed to Iraq just nine months after having her first daughter. Cox had her second daughter at her last Army base, Camp Shelby in Mississippi.

When she and her family arrived in Hawaiʻi in 2019, Cox wasn’t sure what was next for her, but her injury prevented her from working a regular 9 to 5 job.

“It’s a big deal for me to be able to work when I can and I know thatʻs similar for many veterans with PTSD, severe depression, chronic illnesses and amputees,“ Cox said. “When Iʻm feeling good, I can do anything, but then some days Iʻm out for three days.”

Cox grew up in Northern California and participated in 4-H and other farm programs as an adolescent, so moving to the farm gave her inspiration to return back to something she enjoyed before the Army, especially after learning about Hoʻola Farms.

On Friday at the Hilo Food Hub, Cox spent part of the afternoon bottling her two main value-added products, ginger powder and a ginger, turmeric powder mix.

The powders are named “Nativ Blends” and were created as a way to decrease food waste.

“My friend, Megan (Brady) from Uproot Origin was juicing roots for ginger and turmeric drinks at the Food Hub and when I asked what she was doing with the pulp of the root, we came up with this amazing collaboration,” Cox said. “After sheʻs done juicing the roots, I take the pulp and mill it three times to create a fine ginger and turmeric powder.”

Cox and Brady source the ginger and turmeric root from Mana ‘Ōlena farm on the Hamakua Coast and are both able to benefit as producers from the food source. Cox is also able to sell plant starts and compost worms that sheʻs been growing at her I Ka Ua Farm.

While she grows ginger and tumeric, it is not to the scale of Mana ʻŌlena.

“Collaborating with Megan has been amazing, because she is always teaching me about the business side of things,” Cox said. “Tara Waller with Hoʻola has also connected me with so many people and been the person thatʻs really there for all of us veterans as someone to vent to.”

Through the Hoʻola Farms connections, Cox has been able to create unique labeling for the ginger and turmeric-ginger and market herself as a small, local business with potential for growth.

Cox currently sells her ginger and turmeric-ginger online at Hawaiʻi Farm-to-Car, the Locavore Store, the SCP Hotel in Hilo and online at Hawaiʻi Farm-to-Car, an online farmer’s market featuring local food and value-added products from 106 producers.

While Cox misses some aspects of the Army, including the ease of connecting with other military families after a move, she has found that being part of the local agricultural community on the Big Island has been healing and inspiring when it comes to work-life balance.

She hopes more veterans look into Hoʻola Farmsʻ programs if they are ready to do something with their hands or just want to gain more knowledge.

“My life is much different now and sometimes I catch myself working way too long, because in the military, you work until the job is done,” she said. “Now if I do that, I end up making more mistakes. Iʻm learning so much about my mental health as well as others and I see other veterans in the same boat as me. It’s a beautiful things to be part of.”

While working with farmers and producers through Hawaiʻi Farm to Car and the Hilo Food Hub, a certified, cold-only kitchen, Cox has found that everyone has value when it comes to agriculture, especially being isolated and insulated on Hawaiʻi Island. This includes her kids helping on the farm.

“You canʻt do much by yourself, but especially in agriculture,” she said. “We may not have all the resources, but we have all the know-how on this island for sure.”