Growing New Growers

Nicole Ryane Johnson Used LSU AgCenter’s Grow Louisiana Program to Start a Small Farming Revolution in Lafayette

You’ve heard the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” What about teaching him how to teach fishing, and feeding a community? That’s what Nicole Ryane Johnson from New Iberia is doing. She used a free LSU AgCenter program, Grow Louisiana for beginner farmers, to start a small farming revolution in Lafayette. Johnson is helping to turn a low-income food desert into urban gardens, encouraging self-sufficiency among neighbors and a sprouting of new small businesses. Her story shows how an entire community can benefit from one person’s education, especially when the knowledge and methodology are backed by research.

With AgCenter support, Johnson and her partner Trey Lively launched their own farm. Johnson also co-founded a twice-a-week neighborhood farmers market, Fightingville Fresh, and won a grant from the United Way of Acadiana to fund 22 other beginner growers, whom she’s now helping to build raised garden beds, outfit with seeds and tools, and support with workshops, mentoring, and sales.

In addition, Fightingville Fresh will soon be hosting a cohort of Louisiana Central’s Farmer Training Program, which is similar to LSU AgCenter’s Grow Louisiana program and supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The Grow Louisiana program allowed me to consider farming as a career and understand the business side of farming. Without that program, I probably wouldn't be farming at scale, and I probably wouldn’t have the farmers market or be helping others grow. Honestly, I give it all to Grow Louisiana.”

Nicole Ryane Johnson, co-founder of Fightingville Fresh and LSU AgCenter alumna