#72-Kara Rutter (US Army) – Project Victory Gardens – Part 1

“I’ve worked in a lot of countries around the world, in the defense attaché system, and then in later positions. There is a cost of doing business in certain parts of the world”

Today’s conversation is a special two-part series featuring retired Army Sergeant Major Kara Rutter. From her beginnings as an Army cook—despite everyone telling her not to take the job—to working in the Secretary of Defense’s mess, and later serving as part of the Defense Attaché system in Ukraine, Kenya, and Namibia, Kara brings a unique and strategic perspective to both military service and food systems.

In Part 1 of our conversation, Kara walks us through her journey from enlisting in the Army to traveling the world in high-level diplomatic roles. We talk about what it was like to cook for Secretary Rumsfeld, sit as a fly on the wall as strategic decisions played out in the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and see firsthand how global policy is shaped. Kara also shares her transition out of the military and how she and her husband landed on a 20-acre property in Aiken, South Carolina—fencing pastures, collecting “practice animals,” and building a new chapter on their farm.

This episode sets the stage for a larger conversation about national food security, agritourism, and veteran-led farming. In Part 2, we’ll pick up with Kara’s take on using cattle and local food systems to support military bases, and how that led to the founding of Project Victory Gardens and the creation of veteran-focused boot camps and agritourism incubators.

For now, settle in for Part 1 with Kara Rutter—it’s a story of service and the earliest seeds of something much bigger.

Lets get into it.