Urban agriculture is cropping up in the Philadelphia region. Currently, there are 400 active community farms and gardens in Philly, writes Laura Bryzyski for Philly Magazine.

FarmerJawn Agriculture’s founder and CEO Christa Barfield is part of a larger movement.  

This year, Barfield will lease 123 acres of West Chester’s Westtown School to create an organic farm. It will also eventually include a CSA and become a “food and farming incubator.” The incubator will be operated by a cohort of Black farmers chosen through Barfield’s nonprofit. Farmers will be trained and develop educational opportunities through organic farming.  

Barfield, a Germantown resident, wasn’t always a farmer. She originally had a decade worth of experience in healthcare. It wasn’t until a solo trip in Martinique that ignited her passion, where she harvested crops and assembled CSA boxes.  

This experience gave her the idea that it could be replicated in Philly’s neighborhoods, where many residents live in food deserts. She then ended up volunteering at farms and growing herbs in her greenhouse. Barfield then released her two brands, Viva Leaf Tea Co. and FarmerJawn Agriculture.  

Read more about Christa Barfield in Philly Magazine.

WHYY talks to Christa Barfield, the CEO of FarmerJawn Agriculture.