Latest / NHA Today Podcast / How Farmer Jawn Is Making Healthy Food Accessible in America's Food Deserts | NHA Today
Transcript
- Stephan Esser: Hey, it's Dr. Esser welcome to the NHA Today Podcast. Today I'm delighted to be joined by Christa Barfield, who's a healthcare professional turned farmer and food access leader and the founder of Farmer Jawn 128-acre regenerative organic farm in Pennsylvania. After 10 years in healthcare administration, she radically transformed her own life and now is a passionate advocate working to make organic healthy food accessible and working to address the many challenges to eating healthy for urban dwellers. Christa, welcome to the show. Glad to have you today. Christa Barfield: Happy to be here, Doctor Esser. Thank you for having me. Stephan Esser: You know, I'm absolutely fascinated by people's journeys and your transition is quite a transition. I wanna ask you a question. Was there a moment in your life that was just like boom punctuated? I need to change, or was this like a a process that happened for you? Christa Barfield: Yeah, I would say a mixture. Yes, and it was a a little mix of the two. But initially working in healthcare, I worked in for one of the largest ophthalmology practices in the world. highly sought after care. People came from all over the place. So I being the back end of the administration side, ⁓ there was a of responsibility with that and managing my own team and also taking home with me, you know, in order to all that run well. I got to a point I walked into work on January second, twenty eighteen. I read an email from my boss and I just was like, this is not the life that I'm supposed to have. And I sent back a resignation reply and gave them three weeks' notice. And three weeks later, to the day actually, I was on my way to a country called Martinique in the French Caribbean by myself. And that is where agriculture found me. Stephan Esser: Wow. So I mean, I've heard Martinique is a very special place. I actually had some friends in med school from there. And when you were there, walk us through a little bit about that headspace you were in because many of us go through these challenges and the big big transitions in our lives, right? Whether it be work related or family or divorce or whatever. Like there you were in Martinique and tell us more. Like what what what went on? Christa Barfield: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I again going by myself was the true unlock to this and I ⁓ was turning thirty. So January second, I quit my job. January nineteenth, I turned thirty, and then January twenty second was when I got on this plane by myself. First time out of the country ever. I chose the Airbnb because it had a swimming pool. And what I got in re actually what I was receiving was the fact that this was owned by a family of black farmers. And it was not a part of their profile on the whole Airbnb, ⁓ but was the gift that that was honestly being given to me. And I got a chance to just jump into their day-to-day operations. I didn't know what I was doing, just helping them pack boxes of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I saw them take an envelope, put it on top of each box that had a family's name on it. And then a few hours later I saw people walking, dropping 20 year olds in an envelope taking their box and then heading off heading off and saying Abientau, which is see you soon in French. And I was like, I love this. I don't know what's happening, but I just resigned from my job and I'm seeing people take food and leave money. And I was very intrigued by that whole thing and now also had the time that I was giving myself. That was the gift I was giving myself back was some time to figure out what my next steps are going to be and Stephan Esser: Wow. Christa Barfield: That's why I also say agriculture found me because it wasn't something I was seeking. Stephan Esser: You know, so many people are living that life, aren't they? And they're kind of just busy, busy, busy ⁓ you know, constantly working the emails and this and never even a chance to look up at the sky and and to pause. And it sounds like you found that moment in time for you that really ⁓ rerouted your life. Yeah. Christa Barfield: It's so true. It's so true. Yeah. Stephan Esser: Now, were you raised in a healthy household or was this a transition for you to eat healthier and begin this journey? Christa Barfield: It's interesting that word healthy, right? Because I'm I'm raised by a healthcare professional. My mother's a nurse practitioner. ⁓ would say that we we ate what was traditional, you know, meals like ⁓ I was raised on cream wheat. I was raised on collard greens fried chicken. These are things that it's a lot tradition that comes into the way that I that I grew up eating. So unnecessarily was it healthy? ⁓ in some ways, but also you're taking ingredients and you're adding ⁓ oil to them and extra salt, you know? So it's it's such a mixture where food is deeply traditional. ⁓ And so I would say again, that's another yes and, but there was never a focus on where my food came from. Like we went to the grocery store. ⁓ but I do remember seeing my mother ⁓ buy fish. Stephan Esser: Right, right. Yeah. Christa Barfield: Right. So she would take whole fish from the fish market and she would gut them herself. I watched her do that whole process and then batter them and fry them. So the connection of origin food didn't always really have. Like I didn't know who our farmer was, but I knew who the fish market fishmonger was, if you if you will. and I knew that we got everything else from the grocery store. So Stephan Esser: Right, right. Yeah, it's interesting to make me think of that phrase when you were talking about our cultural heritages, because everybody has a place they come from and start. ⁓ And think it's Kim Williams' quote, right? don't let your culture hold your heart hostage, When he talks about heart health, That many people kind of identify with certain cultural patterns, but sometimes they may not be the healthiest for us. and then there's that transition that occurs. You know, when you decided to become a farmer, working in this space, you know, were you intimidated? I mean. Christa Barfield: Hmm. Stephan Esser: Or was it just it felt it felt right? It just felt right. Christa Barfield: Really? No. Yeah, it felt right. Like I really I do think a lot about the ⁓ food comes from ⁓ and ⁓ food even gets to these stores, right? And there's a farmer somewhere behind that. And so if we go a hundred years ago, the majority of farms in our country were, ⁓ you know, and run by black people, by, you know, enslaved Africans that came here. So there's definitely an ancestral connection. ⁓ Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Christa Barfield: that that I have that this is a return for me, putting my hands in soil, ⁓ being the farmer of the community in a way that isn't extractive. ⁓ that is ⁓ a great story to be able to return to and and put some positivity on. So I welcome that. And ⁓ the intimidation is also not something I've felt. I've never had imposter syndrome either. ⁓ I I just put one foot in front of the other and I started very small, right? So I started in a four by six foot greenhouse in my own backyard, which was all concrete, and I figured out how to put soil into a cup and put seeds in it, water and sun, and there was a plant. So I started very in a very rudimentary way. I didn't seek out any real teachings, but just decided to do until I became. and that's kinda what happened. Like even volunteering at other farms, you don't get the skill sets you need to say, like, I'm gonna be I'm gonna run a farm company, I'm gonna be a farmer. ⁓ You get to your hands in soil and weed and you get to like maybe pack vegetables in in bags, but you don't understand the fundamentals of what it is to be a farmer. So I just took some common sense ⁓ and ⁓ also that connection to the ancestors as well as the business knowledge and the business degree that I had already attained and mixed that all together ⁓ ⁓ f ⁓ failed my way to where we are today. Stephan Esser: I mean, it to go from a four by six, you know, little greenhouse to now a hundred and twenty eight acres, I mean that's quite a transition. And tell us where your farm is located. Christa Barfield: Yeah, so we are in three counties in Pennsylvania. We have one in Philadelphia area that also has a retail store connected to it currently being built. and if you go a little further out into an area called Westchester, it's about 40 minutes outside the city. It is our largest farm parcel, which is 123 acres with also with its own retail store on it that operates six months out of the year. ⁓ And then closer to actually where I grew up and where I live in a area called Elkins Park in Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia and that is a one acre training farm where I got a lot really got started on a larger space in that area. Stephan Esser: Nice. And so a lot of we hear in around the country different CSAs. Would you call yours a CSA at this point, Christa Barfield: Yeah, that's actually how we began. So Farmer Jawn started as a CSA model. ⁓ we started with 10 families. We, you know, I went on Facebook one day and this was more more so my launch. And I was like, hey, I'm starting a far I've started a farm and we are doing a CSA, which is community supported agriculture. And in order for that to work, you need community to know about you and want to buy your food from you ahead of time. And so it's a really beautiful model that farmers have been able to use ⁓ worldwide to connect to community to allow them to, ⁓ know, buy into the fact that there will be vegetables soon ⁓ you give us your money now to help support the growth of them so we can pay people well, so we can buy seeds, so we can do all of that. ⁓ I promise you vegetables when when they get here. Stephan Esser: Right. such a cool model There's one in Tampa where I went to medical school and I used to love going out there and ⁓ seeing the inner relationships the people, right? Working the land together and sharing the produce. It was a beautiful, beautiful model. ⁓ how have you been growing? Like that in your numbers over time? Do you feel like the the kind of getting more and more traction? Christa Barfield: Yes. ⁓ yeah. yeah. I mean we've we've been flowed for sure. We started at ten, we went up to fifty from the ten ⁓ over the years and then we went to a hundred, then went to two hundred, and then we dropped back down to fifty. And then were like, Okay, let's go, we're gonna settle at a hundred. So that's where we are right now, eight years in. and essentially I started Farmer Jawn in twenty January of twenty twenty officially. So our first CSA has really been going on. Since ⁓ twenty since twenty twenty in January. So yeah, we're six years in now ⁓ ⁓ we are now settled at the a hundred person mark. It's kind of our sweet spot because as the business grew around the CSA, you know, we have retail stores now, we have products, we do a lot more than we did just having a CSA. So just for a capacity, we are at the a hundred mark, and that's our sweet spot. No, thank you. ⁓ Stephan Esser: Congratulations. You know, it's neat neat to see that growth. I know it's a lot of love, a lot of passion, a lot of energy poured in to make it happen. One of the things that I loved looking at your website, you know, is kind of this multi-pronged approach, right? Not just here, come buy some produce. You know, you talked about production, ⁓ access, education, as well as lifestyle. really kind of like you're trying to create a movement almost around this whole, you know, is that kind of your vision? Christa Barfield: Yes. Absolutely. You know, I want people to recognize that when I say agriculture is the culture, which is ultimately the slogan of the organization, but it means so much more. It's like everything you touch every day, from the the beverages that you're drinking, the clothes that you're wearing, even the the kitchen table that you're eating on is thanks to a farmer or a steward of land somewhere, somehow, at some time. And we don't often think of that. And this is Stephan Esser: Right. Yeah. Christa Barfield: Every day we're interacting with these things. You gotta eat, you gotta drink, you gotta have clothes on, and you live in a house and you eat on some some kind of table. all of these are agricultural products, and no connection that people even think about a farmer. So it's really just so that people can be cognizant that if there are no farmers, there are no there's no food. And it's a reminder to to people. So that that is what I'm building. It's ⁓ just recognizing from once we come. And farming is a part of everybody's lineage and it's a reminder of that too. Stephan Esser: Right. Well, I mean, I love that concept there, there's that whole interconnectivity, I mean, there's ⁓ so many live in isolation, Or you ask the kid, where'd the apple come from from the store? And it's like, well, no, that's not where it came from, ⁓ right? ⁓ That from else. And who was involved with that process and how did it get to you? And that, ⁓ you know, I it makes me think actually of food waste for a moment in America, Which is ⁓ some of the studies, suggest it's enough to feed multiple other countries how much we throw away. And just thinking about that appreciation for the work, the effort, the time, the energy. Christa Barfield: Yes. Yeah. Yes. Stephan Esser: The love that went into growing that, right? And preparing that. Yeah, it's yeah. Yeah. Christa Barfield: Yes. Even our own health. You know, it directly cor connects back to that. The food waste issue is also a part directly correlates to our the depreciating health that we have in America. And you know, people don't understand what a broccoli plant actually actually looks like. Everybody wants the florette. Like that's what they're looking for. They're looking for the flower. But the broccoli plant is so much more than that. The flower is actually the smallest part of that plant. Stephan Esser: Yeah. Nah. Christa Barfield: ⁓ I wanna see ⁓ chefs even because that's really the the people who are ⁓ who ⁓ are looking to to see how things are prepared. I mean think about how Food Network become so such the behemoth that it is is because people like watching people prepare food. ⁓ And so that to me is like okay the onus is like yes the farmers are Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Right, right. Christa Barfield: make all of this go. They're the the origin of the system. But the next step to the food system is the people who prepare it. And so I'd love to see people start taking the broccoli leaves of plants and taking the t the tomato leaves and making pesto and doing just really encouraging things to people so they can feel like they can ⁓ they can do this. They can actually work with the whole plant as well. Stephan Esser: Yeah. You know, you talk in in our society, we hear quite a bit about quote sustainable farming, right? ⁓ and I saw that some on your website as well talking about sustainability. can you unpackage that phrase a little bit for us today? Like when you think about sustainability, what does that mean? Christa Barfield: Mm. Yeah, I mean the first thing I always say when people ask me this question about sustainability, ⁓ people need to recognize that sustainability, it can't actually sustain if it's not profitable. So from the first and foremost, is that that's how I look at it. And everything that we're doing to take care of the planet, because that's how most people connect to sustainability, is they're like, how do we care for the planet? But without recognizing that people and planet are a part of the sustainability. People plus planet equals sustainability. In order to care for people, you actually have to have a model that's going to work for everybody. ⁓ the other aspects of sustainability environmentally, it really directly ties into people that the food that they get is how it was grown. So like where's the water coming from? Are we harvesting rain? Are we are we simply ⁓ pouring water directly from the municipal water system? Are we using ⁓ animals within our our farm system? Are we using their manure to help increase the ⁓ the make for our soil, increasing that organic matter? ⁓ are we taking plants that we harvested last year and simply pulling them out of the ground, disturbing the soil and the roots and disturbing all the microorganisms down there or Are we chopping it and just letting it lay so we can build the soil matter? So there's there's just so much that goes into it. But it's about really ultimately saving the farmer money so that they can still be there the following year and making sure that they have a team to be able to care for those plants and that food, those animals. And you can't do that unless there's you know, actual revenue streams coming in. So to me, sustainability is profitability and what are all the ways in the business that we can ⁓ make sure that the business remains profitable. Thus it will be sustainable. Stephan Esser: Right. And I guess that's where you bring your experience in business to the table, right? Which a lot of farmers don't have that exposure and that experience. So you know, definitely needed. I've known some small farmers over the years, and it's a real challenge, keep those small family-owned farms running, right? Especially with big industrial farms coming in, and the different ⁓ techniques and technologies they use, and then you know, with performance, et cetera. So I think it's wonderful that you're doing this, not only for Christa Barfield: Yes. Yeah. Stephan Esser: the fact of getting healthy food to people, but I love that educational aspect, as well. I'm curious, do you bring any schools out, any children's schools out to you, for field trips and things like that to experience? Yeah. Christa Barfield: Yeah. Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah, schools, but also adults. We actually host the field trip every Saturday at our farm when we're in season. ⁓ and we at our own expense because I think it's so important. Like being 45 minutes away from the the central area of Philadelphia isn't as easy just for anybody to hop in a car and drive down, right? So it's like we want to make it as as accessible as possible. So we charter a school bus ⁓ every single Saturday to bring people from the Philadelphia region down to our farm. Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. Christa Barfield: And we always are hosting schools. We have a director of education and research on our team whose sole focus ⁓ to engage as much as community as possible. So we have ⁓ a lot of children that come on over. And we also have a like a lot of adult groups, even board. We have a we hosted a board of an organization that just wanted to do a board retreat and we hosted them at our farm. ⁓ So there's something every age group is able to get out of this. Even adults don't know where much of the food that they're eating comes from. So it's in we're able to engage people at every level. Stephan Esser: Nice. I love it. you know, it just struck me, the next Christa Barfield might be listening to this podcast right now. And if you know, and she or he were, you know, what would you say to them as far as you know, what are the greatest things about the transition you've had and what are the toughest things? Christa Barfield: Yeah, it's definitely a mix, but the the biggest advice that I always have for folks is a business plan. And to your point of what you mentioned about farmers not often having the business experience down pat but they know how to till a field, they know how to get seeds, they know how to get sweet corn to come up, that all those things that are also really important fundamentally. But the business is the foundation. And when we're talking about one of the most difficult things it has been to to become a farmer and grow this business is always funding. Access to capital is the biggest thing for any business, but especially in agriculture where we're seeing ⁓ farms go bankrupt at a very alarming rate. The the rate of the the death rate even suicide rate for agriculturalists has gone up over the years. And that's simply because it's not supported as is ⁓ how it should A lot of our food is being grown in other countries and then shipped here. Even a lot of our organic food, the food that's supposed to be free of chemicals. Most of that doesn't even come from our own US soil. so, ⁓ know, it's it's definitely ⁓ sure you're setting yourself up to have a true plan that can work that you can be able to present to someone when you're going for funding. Stephan Esser: Nice, nice. So having that plan, and then you mentioned there about the emotional stressors and the challenges, the difficulties. You know, how how do you fill back up your bucket, When you're kind of pouring out. Christa Barfield: Mm. Community. Yeah, it goes back to this. You know, agriculture is a is a communal sport. I always like to say it really is. And people want to be involved. it's interesting to see now how farming is becoming more and more popular, you know, in other ways. There's agro tourism, there's agro hospitality, ⁓ you there's all these ways that people are wanting to tap into ⁓ being a farm, being connected in that solace and that taking a break. What it means to so many others when they come. They're like, I get to just relax and walk through nature, but that's not what the farmer is typically experiencing. so it's what I do for myself is ⁓ get to walk put my hands in soil. You know, years ago when I first started the farm, I was the the one that was primarily doing the farming. There was Stephan Esser: Right. Christa Barfield: really just me. I was building my team. that I have such a larger team and ⁓ that are really the farmers that are doing the work every single day, I do more lot more traveling. I do a lot more fundraising, you know, to be able to keep it all going. And ⁓ when I get moment to just be on the farm and just walk it and put my hands in soil. I literally just did that this past weekend and it was it was bliss and it was the reconnection that I need. So yeah, it's true. Putting your hands in soil is definitely a way, ⁓ scientifically proven that it can help boost your endorphins and help with decreasing stressors. ⁓ know, soil is really powerful and that's why we work so hard to protect it. Stephan Esser: You know, had a recent ⁓ interviewee that I was talking with and I asked them this question. I'm gonna ask you the same one. Let's visualize we've got a fifty-two year old female with two kids who lives in an apartment somewhere in the middle of the city and she has a tiny little porch area. That's about it, like a little balcony or something. and wants to try to grow something. You know, what what what are your what do you sell her? Christa Barfield: Hmm. yeah, absolutely. So my what I always say is take one of the things that your family eats that you buy constantly. Let's look at all of them and then let's figure out what's gonna be the best one that you no longer have to buy again. And one of the easiest things, just so people can have that confidence that they can grow something, is gonna be scallions. Green onions. Very simply, you buy some scallions one time and you'll be able to use the same scallions for four or five, six times by simply putting it in a glass of water. So it's visually appealing. Drop it in a glass of water with the white ends and the roots in the w the glass and continue to cut it and you'll constantly have fresh green onions that essentially you're growing. And ⁓ that's just one entry point. And there's a number of others. I mean, kale greens, potatoes. You can do those in small container gardens, even strawberries. Stephan Esser: Yeah, but you called it out there. I love that word you said confidence, right? Because how many people are, you know, nervous, they've never grown anything in their life and they'd love to try something. and just seeing that I find for myself that looking at something growing is so ⁓ balancing the sense of even my own perspective on my own life, right? Because you see something grow and you see something die, or you see, you know, and you recognize, wow, I'm not here forever. And just like being around those plants, yeah, ⁓ the beautiful Christa Barfield: Yes. true. It's the pruning. Stephan Esser: I also love that visual, It's like unless you plant that seed into a place of darkness and trouble and difficulty, You don't get anything beautiful. And, I visualize in my head you kind of stepping away from what you were doing and planting yourself and now look at the, you know, the good that's grown out of it, which is really cool to hear and see. ⁓ you know, I saw on your website one thing that was intriguing to me, and that was something you're calling a corner Jawn. Tell me, tell me about that. Christa Barfield: Hm. Indeed. Yes. So corner Jawn. Jawn and is you know, Jawn is a Philly word. If you're not familiar, I want people to know that it's J A W N. So the name John but Jawn means person, place, or thing. It is in the Webster's dictionary. So you use it and you know, that's a Jawn over there. I'm going to that Jawn, or can you pick up the Jawn? Like it's just the word that's thrown in to to be anything. And so when I was thinking about the name Farmer Jawn, it was like, I need to figure out a word that people can connect with and recognize. And when I whole premise of it is if you want to grow your own food, that's wonderful. Like you, we can give you the skills to know how you should be able to do that. But if you don't want to grow your own food because obviously there's not enough time and you know, you work and all these things, you should at least know who your farmer is. And so at first it was a love story to my city. And so when I decided to then want a smaller footprint for our store or for our produce to be sold out of, you know, in what year was that? 2020, I took a walk in Germantown section of Philadelphia, which is very inner city, and went to five different corner stores. And I wanted to ask them if they would be interested in stocking our produce. And everybody said no. And they all had the same reason. It was a business decision. It would die on the shelf. They didn't think that people would come to them to purchase. And I just thought about all the food deserts and food swamps that corner stores typically make up, a lot of that food swamp culture where there's all types of food around, but it's not anything nutritious. And I was like, I wanna change that. I wanna make food a few walks away from people's home that's nutritious. ⁓ And can do that because we are the farmers that's growing in. So Corner Jawn is a food-is-medicine concept corner store that we're building the first prototype of right now in the unhealthiest section of Philadelphia, the one with the poorest health outcomes. And we're going to see ⁓ how well it performs by being able to also be supported with this neighboring community of lots of people, transplants that are coming in and have paying jobs. You know, our communities are starting to morph into you can't look at a spot and say like, ⁓ there's Stephan Esser: Yeah. Right. Christa Barfield: you know, there's only ⁓ people that that make less money here. No, there's all of our neighborhoods are so mixed. On the same block, we are seeing that they're a mixed income. And so corner drawn is meant to support everybody in that neighborhood without leaving out the the people who make less, which is often what happens. Stephan Esser: Right, right. I love it. Christa Barfield: When a large commercial grocery comes into a community, they often aren't priced well enough so that the the people that make less can participate. The people that work there can participate. This is this design is to to help debunk all of that. Stephan Esser: Beautiful. Well, I hope it's very successful. You know, I mean, because the reality is access to food is a major issue for a lot of people. And then I think, but then when we get to the next level, even if people have access, like lot of my patients that I see in clinic, they have plenty of money and they have great access to food, but they're still eating the ultra processed, What I call food-like substances of abuse, Because it's not even real food. It's been engineered, to kind of addict them. ⁓ And and I think Christa Barfield: Thank you. Mm-hmm. Choice. Choice. Yeah. Mm. Stephan Esser: What we've seen right in our history as well as in the literature scientifically, is that the more people struggle with, let's say, ⁓ depression, anxiety, it just kind of feeds on itself, doesn't it? So those food like substance abuse and they make you more depressed and your dopamine spikes and you need it again, then it's just this whole addictive pattern which just leaves you spiraling out of control. And so I think, you know, if we can get those people on healthier food and access to it, what a beautiful place to start, And I really hope that's successful. Christa Barfield: Thank you. Stephan Esser: you know, ⁓ you're gonna be ⁓ I think speaking at the NHA annual conference in June of this year. And ⁓ I don't want you to give away your topic, but can you give us a little sneak peek on what people might learn or hear from you? Christa Barfield: I am Absolutely. ⁓ we have something that I call the farmer Jawn formula. And essentially that's three main pillars of health that I live by, my business is run by, and it all centers back to how we all connect to this word health. And I break it down for everyone and you know, it comes back to food, being medicine and the small farmer will save the world, as I always like to say. So that that it's gonna be a really great talk that I'm excited to share. Stephan Esser: Fantastic. Well we're excited to hear you and I really enjoyed spending time with you today and thank you for taking time for us. Christa Barfield: Thank you, Dr. It was great to be with you.