Growing food, growing community

Our mission is to foster a healthy and resilient community by increasing access to local and healthy foods, providing educational and training programs, and engaging the community in urban agriculture and environmental stewardship.

Eartha’s Farm & Market is an initiative of the Clara White Mission. The Clara White Mission (CWM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has served the Jacksonville (FL) community since 1904 with programs directed toward low-income individuals and military veterans in the areas of housing, job training, feeding, and advocacy.

In 2012 the agency started EFAM, a 10.5-acre urban farm located in Northwest Jacksonville. The purpose of the farm is to increase the production of healthy fruits and vegetables, improve food access in this food desert community, and provide training and educational programming to the local residents. EFAM is located in the Moncrief Springs neighborhood of Jacksonville, a historically black community that was once a bustling neighborhood with recreational and business enterprises and economic opportunities that served the local residents. In the 1940’s and 50’s, the City of Jacksonville utilized the area to dump incinerator ash on over 50 acres and across several sites on the Northside, resulting in on-going serious health issues for the community. Over the years, other ill-advised city-wide projects, including capping off a natural spring in this area, contributed to the decline of the neighborhood. The area was cleaned up several years ago as part of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Superfund as a way to mitigate the adverse effects associated with those issues, but the recovery for the residents and improved vitality of the area was slow and ultimately minimal.

EFAM is dedicated to ensuring the local community in health zone 1 has access to fresh, healthy foods at an affordable price and is provided with resources to achieve better health outcomes.

Urban Farming practices: EFAM practices organic and regenerative farming, and the site for an Natural Resources Conservation Service Conversation and Innovation Grant (NRCS CIG) project from 2019-2021 that focused on improving soil health, nutrient density and yields through biological inputs, integrated pest management, intercropping, and composting. EFAM continues to use these practices.

EFAM has a bee apiary, compost facilities, community garden, perennial fruits, annual vegetables plots, a green house, quonset hut, perennial herb garden and community beds for rent.

EFAM host weekly volunteering on Wed, Fri and Sat from 8-1pm. EFAM is also a site for community service hours for youth and adults.