Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Lankford.
Hi Joey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After farming tomatoes in South Africa, I felt a call to create an organization that combined growing fresh produce for hungry neighbors with discipleship and community for those in need of a fresh start. With the help of friends and church members, I started Cul2vate in 2016.
We started with 2.5 acres of land and two greenhouses at the Ellington Agricultural Center. We now have 5 farms across the Middle Tennessee area. In 2016, we started with 2 Cul2vators, which is what we call those in our program learning agricultural skills, gaining employment, and experiencing community. And our most recent class saw 15 Cul2vators graduate. In 2025, we donated nearly 500,000 pounds of food to provide over 400,000 meals to hungry people.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Farming comes with its own set of challenges because it’s unpredictable. You cannot control the weather or always predict the harvest. Then, you add the struggles of building an organization on top of that.
In 2021, we experienced a devastating flood that damaged our barn, equipment, and crops. But during this hardship, we experienced community in massive ways. Neighbors and strangers alike helped us rebuild and blessed us beyond what we could imagine.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Here at Cul2vate, we grow food, and we grow people. This means we grow fresh produce to feed the hungry and provide community and discipleship for those who need a fresh start. Sometimes our Cul2vators have been justice-involved or are on a sobriety journey. Wherever they come from, we are here to walk alongside them, provide agricultural training, and offer them the opportunity to do meaningful work feeding the hungry.
We donate fresh produce grown on our farms to organizations that cook nutritious meals for cancer patients, food pantries, churches, and more. We feed people across Tennessee with local produce grown at Cul2vate and brighten their days with hand-curated bouquets from the flowers we nurture.
We sell our fresh produce and flowers, as well as delicious items from local businesses, in our Farm Store on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.. This way, we can highlight small businesses, share our produce, and create a communal shopping experience for everyone. Come out and see us at the Ellington Agricultural Center!
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I am happy seeing our Cul2vators grow. When I hear things like “I’m celebrating 7 months of sobriety” or “This is the longest I’ve kept a job in my entire life,” I get excited for what God is doing in people’s lives. It makes me happy seeing kids able to eat delicious food because of what we grow, parents breathing a sigh of relief because they don’t have to choose between dinner on the table and gas in the tank.
I am happy when I see the donors and volunteers who deeply believe in this organization. We call them our champions because they are championing our cause and giving of their time and money to be a part of this missional work.
As we celebrate 10 years of Cul2vate this year, I am overjoyed reminiscing on all the meals we provided and the lives we helped change, and I’m excited to look ahead at everything God has for us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cul2vate.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cul2vatefarms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cul2vateFarms/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cul2vate/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cul2vatefarms839
