According to the “State of Food” study conducted the University of Louisville, there is an average of 1 full service grocer per 25,000 residents in West Louisville compared to a Jefferson County wide ratio of 1 per every 12,500 residents. This leaves many residents dependent on food pantries and subsidized programs while not fully addressing core issues such as the lack of economic opportunities that are also prevalent in food deserts. While the city has numerous community green spaces to encourage residents to grow food, there are not many programs that encourage food production in greenhouses specifically for supplemental income. 

To address this, Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program in August 2018 partnered with Louisville Grows to develop a greenhouse management and production program. The program taught residents how to grow microgreens for resale to restaurants and chefs. The program had weekly activities where students learned about various greenhouse components and their function, greenhouse maintenance, watering, microgreen production from seed to harvest, market price and packaging the final product for sale to residents and restaurants. Three full time participants and walk-in visitors came to learn about microgreen production and even sample the product. Participants worked closely with KSU extension to determine crop selection, market pricing, packaging options, and logo design. After harvesting 11 trays of kale, mustard green, and salad mix, a pop-up event at a local café was organized to test the market and gauge public response for the product.

Twenty people who attended the pop up were introduced to the newly established company and able to meet the growers face to face to learn about the benefits of microgreen consumption. The group sold 40- 2oz containers at $4 per container totaling $160 in sales with an input cost of $55 for $105 profit. Since the project began the participants have continued to show interest in microgreen production and a supplemental income stream. Kentucky State Extension has helped grower Mike Jackson set up a small home microgreen production system and is continuing to grow to sell to local chefs. When asked about his experience with the program Mike Jackson said:

            “For the past year, I have been working with my friend JC and his company in hopes to bring a farmers market to the Newburg area. With JC’s landscaping business and my small interest in urban farming, we still saw the need to seek out mentors and different ways to grow. Along the way, JC met agent Stephen Lewis who offered to teach JC and I different ways to grow in a greenhouse. Steve was providing us with the tools, knowledge and opportunity to experiment and potentially grow a business. Since the pop-up event, we have made lots of contact with small restaurants, venues and even churches willing to buy. Now we are growing quickly and gaining more knowledge from Stephen with KSU. We plan to continue our venture with Stephen in the future, learning more about grow systems and different ways to grow food.”