How Farmer Jawn Is Making Healthy Food Accessible in America's Food Deserts | NHA Today

On January 2nd, 2018, Christa Barfield read an email from her boss, sent back a resignation reply, and gave three weeks notice. Three weeks later she was on a plane to Martinique, alone, for the first time out of the country - turning 30 and looking for what came next. What she found was a family of Black farmers running a CSA. She had never farmed before. She has not stopped since.In this episode of NHA Today, Dr. Stephan Esser sits down with Christa Barfield, founder of Farmer Jawn, a 128-acre regenerative organic farm operation across three Pennsylvania counties, that has grown from 10 CSA families to a 100-person waitlist, two retail farm stores, and a new food-is-medicine corner store concept launching in the most medically underserved neighborhood in Philadelphia.Christa's work sits at the intersection of food access, food equity, health, and community. Her slogan: agriculture is the culture. Her mission: make the small farmer the center of the health system. Her next project: Corner Jawn.In this conversation you will learn:The moment Christa quit her healthcare job, booked a solo trip to Martinique, and found farmingWhat a CSA is and why the model works for urban food accessWhat sustainability actually means and why it cannot exist without profitabilityWhy Christa calls agriculture a communal sport and how community fills her back upThe Corner Jawn concept: a food-is-medicine corner store in a Philadelphia food desertWhy she charters a school bus every Saturday to bring city residents to her farmThe ancestral connection she feels putting her hands in soil as a Black farmerWhat the Farmer Jawn formula is and why she is bringing it to the NHA ConferenceHow to grow food even if all you have is a glass of water and some scallions────────────────────────────────────────LINKS AND RESOURCES────────────────────────────────────────Full episode and show notes: NHA Today on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgXfvjZj34HbsD3-47eEC2kjBWeIvNhHlSubscribe: https://www.healthscience.org/podcast/NHA Conference recordings (catch Christa's talk): https://checkout.healthscience.org/2026-nha-conferenceFarmer Jawn website: https://www.farmerjawn.coFarmer Jawn on Instagram: @FarmerJawn_Follow Dr. Esser on Instagram: @EsserHealth