Allan Lanton

Owner, Evergrowing Aquaponics

Native of Dayton, OH

Industry: Agriculture

Allan Lanton calls Rowan County “a place where innovation and creativity are born.” He’s in Rowan County because of the land, specifically property that he leases and farms off U.S. 601 at 450 Cabagnot Lane. He is immersed in aquaponics, a food production system that couples aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, snails, or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants. 

 Rowan County is also a place “to work hard” to build a business, he says. He started his farm here two years ago, after graduating from Charlotte Law School. In law school, he developed a relationship with a professor, Rocky Cabagnot, who owned family land in Rowan County. That led him back to his love of urban agriculture, and he built his first commercial system on Cabagnot’s land in 2021. He sells his produce at the local farmers’ market.

Being in a smaller community than Charlotte or Dayton, OH, has allowed him to make connections faster, he says. “People start to get to know you and you begin positive relationships,” he says. Those connections include Livingstone College, where he is a research lab coordinator and research professor, and Essie Mae Academy, a charter school in East Spencer. He is working to set up a volunteer program at the academy to help students learn about aquaponics and hydroponics.

He was first introduced to urban agriculture as an undergrad at Miami University in Oxford, OH, where he was involved in a leadership program geared to improving people’s lives in southeastern Ohio. He helped a small charter school build a solar oven. After receiving a dual degree in history and American studies, he attended Wright State University in Dayton and earned a master’s degree in public administration. There, he helped clients at a homeless shelter grow fruits and vegetables and sell the produce to restaurants. 

A friend directed him to an aquaponics farm in Milwaukee. He visited in mid-winter but recalls that it was like “stepping into spring.” The greenhouse was “green, green everywhere with fish swimming everywhere. Once I saw that, I was hooked. I realized this was the future. I have no farming background, but I absolutely love doing this. It’s more sustainable. I want to create a hub where there is no food disparity, and everyone can have access to fresh produce.” 

He has found Rowan to be “a growing county where people are not afraid to thrive.”

The county slogan, Be an Original, ™ means that this is a place where “new talents and perspectives are introduced and immediately woven into the fabric of the community,” he says.

His favorite restaurant is Landmark Family Restaurant for its Southern food. He enjoys Bell Tower Green Park because it brings people from all walks of life to the area. His favorite event, the Salisbury Ghost Tour, allowed him to “basically get all of Salisbury’s history in a 90-minute tour.”

“I feel a sense of community in Rowan County,” he says.