Department of Agriculture and Forestry, State of Louisiana - Mike Strain DVM, Commissioner

Louisiana Homegrown By Heroes

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) partnered with the Farmer Veteran Coalition to bring the Homegrown by Heroes program to Louisiana. Homegrown by Heroes is a farmer-veteran initiative that highlights military service while also promoting agriculture. Louisiana is the sixth state to adopt the program and is partnering with the Farmer Vet Coalition.

The Louisiana Homegrown by Heroes program is an excellent way to provide military veterans an opportunity to engage in agriculture as well as aquaculture production. In addition, there are marketing materials that help enhance their visibility to better market these products. Whether they are gardening as a hobby or farming as a career, we will do what we can to help our veterans increase their ability to be successful as well as provide them tools for sustainability.

The program was originally created by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

“Homegrown by Heroes is a national branding initiative that helps the consumer identify a product as one that is grown in Louisiana and by a military veteran. The goal is to raise the profile of farm products grown and raised by these heroes at the point of sale,” said Ben Shaffar, creator of Homegrown by Heroes program and director of business development of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

For more information about Homegrown by Heroes, contact Jeremy Hendrix at 952-8155 or email at jhendrix@ldaf.la.gov.