Donna Isaacs
DeLaTerre Permaculture Farms
Donna Isaacs’ passion for agriculture was deeply influenced by her upbringing in Jamaica, where she grew up on a 20 acre permaculture food forest surrounded by mango, breadfruit, and bananas, as well as pigs and broiler chickens. This rich experience with a variety of crops and livestock instilled in her the value of living off the land, though as a child she did not initially recognize it as permaculture.
EQIP
Louisiana
After moving to the United States, she pursued a degree in construction management and later focused on sustainable construction, combining historic preservation with green building practices. After earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of Florida, she began instructing LEED Exam Prep workshops for the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in Louisiana. Here she became aware of the deteriorating buildings in underserved communities and sought to address this through sustainable and green rehabilitation projects.
A lot of people see organic food production as something that only wealthy people can access. What I would like to show is that you can grow organically in your backyard and feed yourself nutrient dense food without going to the supermarket.
This journey introduced her to USDA agencies like Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development, and the Farm Service Agency, where she began exploring how to leverage their programs for community benefit, particularly in farming and sustainable agriculture. Despite setbacks such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, she continued to develop and manage agricultural projects including a USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant supporting 20 farmers as they implement no-till organic market garden production.
It’s a wild ecosystem and we’re seeing more and more diversity every year. We’re getting used to the wild aesthetic. We foster this ecosystem because the animals support us. They are a part of our integrated pest management.
Currently, Donna co-owns and manages DeLaTerre Permaculture Farm, with her partner Waylon Breaux, a 43 acre diversified farm, producing seasonal vegetables, meat and eggs. She incorporates high tunnels for year-round vegetable production. She has focused on improving infrastructure, such as installing high tunnels that can withstand severe weather and establishing a composting facility. Through an Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) grant Donna is adding cow-calf production to her rotational grazing herd of goats and sheep, supported by cross fencing and water infrastructure that the grant is making possible. Her ultimate goal is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that provides nutrient-dense food, supports local food systems, and promotes personal health and community well-being.
A major part of this farm is to grow food for the community, but another part of everything that I am doing is to be able to show others that they too can do the same thing and that together we will rebuild our local food system and we will rebuild it in a way that creates a better life-work balance.
