More than 20 years ago in Scott, a small suburb of Lafayette, Louisiana, a group of community members came together around a shared goal: increasing access to fresh, healthy, organic food. At the time, those options were limited locally. 

For Board President Chris Adams, the motivation remains simple. 

“It’s simply being part of growing plants that turn into food that I then eat at dinner — starting with the seeds and the soil, nurturing them to harvest time and then putting them on the table,” Adams said. “It’s just ridiculously satisfying. Really rewarding. And in the process, the community becomes integral. The conversations that happen while we work together help shape community goals too.” 

Earthshare runs three 12-week seasons each year — spring, summer and fall — with members picking up weekly or every other week. Participants can choose a traditional subscription or a “working share,” volunteering time in the garden to help with planting, weeding or harvesting. The model gives farmers dependable income upfront while members receive fresh, locally grown produce throughout the season. 

In 2025, Earthshare Gardens received its largest grant through the Louisiana Resilient Food Systems for Infrastructure (RFSI) program. The program helps small farms and food businesses sell products more easily, create value-added goods and support fair pay and safe jobs across the local food system. 

While the award created an exciting opportunity for growth, it also presented a hurdle. 

Their solution came through a trusted network. Adams said that through a statewide community of small-scale agriculture partners, they learned Communities Unlimited (CU) could provide the cash-flow support needed to participate in the grant program.

Through CU’s Small Farm Lending Program — designed for farmers navigating reimbursement-based funding — Earthshare secured upfront capital for equipment and infrastructure purchases and repaid the loan once grant funds were received. The financing bridged the timing gap between project costs and reimbursement.

Earthshare worked with CU Economic Development Loan Officer Candence Brooks, and the loan closed Nov. 25 with support from the Louisiana Small Scale Agriculture Coalition and the Sachs Family Foundation.

“Working with CU was easy,” Adams said. “We were able to work out exactly what we needed. Everything went very smoothly.”

With financing in place, Earthshare purchased a portable cold storage unit, a two-compartment sink, a prep work table and a grease trap.

The portable cold storage unit is already changing how the garden operates. In Louisiana’s summer heat, freshly harvested vegetables can spoil quickly if they aren’t cooled right away. Now, instead of relying on standard refrigeration after transport, Earthshare can chill produce immediately in the field — a step that dramatically extends shelf life.

For example, zucchini that might previously have stayed fresh for four or five days can now last 10 to 15 days. Delicate crops such as lettuces and tender greens, which often lasted only two or three days once temperatures began to rise, can now see their shelf life double or even triple with proper cooling. The result is higher quality produce for members and more reliable distribution throughout each CSA season.

The roughly 350-cubic-foot refrigerated trailer also opens the door to growing crops that were once considered too risky in warmer weather. Spoilage concerns had limited some planting decisions, particularly for leafy greens like spinach and specialty lettuces. With rapid cooling available, Earthshare can expand what it grows and effectively extends parts of its growing season.

Beyond serving CSA members, the mobile unit strengthens the broader local food system. Earthshare makes the refrigerated trailer available to beginning farmers participating in its incubator program — growers who use land on the property to launch their own farm operations. Because the unit can travel, those farmers can use it to safely transport produce to restaurants and grocery stores, adding meaningful capacity to their young businesses.

Together, the upgrades don’t just improve day-to-day operations — they elevate quality, create new opportunities for emerging farmers and strengthen Earthshare’s ability to serve the Lafayette Parish community.