With a growing number of farms closing for good throughout Pennsylvania, younger farmers from non-agricultural backgrounds, like FarmerJawn in Westtown, are trying to fill the void, writes Jason Nark for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Christa Barfield grew up in Germantown and worked in healthcare for a decade, before a trip to Martinique, a Caribbean island, six years ago changed her life.

“I saw Black people farming and that was an inspiration to me,” she said. “Not just farming, but Black farmers who owned the land. That was the key for me.”

Barfield returned to Philadelphia and started first a tea company and then FarmerJawn, which features both greenhouses and storefronts. She recently started organic farming on the 128-acre Westtown School property. She noted that at times, she experienced the agricultural cold shoulder, especially in her latest Westtown venture, where people have scrutinized her work online.

”I guess people that live near farm, that patronized it over years, start to feel they know a lot about agriculture,” she said.

She said that by expanding over to Chester County, her farm has become the largest regenerative, organic produce farm in the nation that’s owned by a Black woman.

Read more about Christa Barfield’s FarmerJawn inspiration and journey in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

______