JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A community farm in the Moncrief Springs area of Jacksonville has a new name and new opportunities after leaders opened a vendor’s market and community training center there this weekend.
Eartha's Farm and Market, previously known as White Harvest Farms, was renamed on Saturday in honor of its founder Eartha M.M. White, a humanitarian and civil rights activist who was from Jacksonville.
On Saturday, residents got their first look at a new 40-vendor market that will connect local entrepreneurs with the north Jacksonville community. A training center inside the 6,000 square-foot Quonset Hut at the farm, was also unveiled this weekend.
Entrepreneurs such as Gabriel Ali, spent 10 years in the Army, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, before he got involved in the hot sauce making business.
“I fell into hard times and I was searching around and happened to come across Clara White," Ali said.
For entrepreneurs like Ali, Eartha's Farm and Market provides the space for vendors to connect with the northside community through their new vendor’s market.
“We grow it and process it here and we’re doing it to raise funds," Ali said. "It’s a way to give back and to learn."
With the farm being located on Moncrief Road, the area is considered a food desert, meaning there is limited access to fresh produce. Leaders at the farm want to change that by providing a community garden, weekly farmer’s market and agriculture training programs.
Nicole Boone graduated from the 'Bee Keeping course' at the farm.
"I don’t know if you’ve traveled up and down Moncrief, but you see areas of disrepair and opportunities are lacking," Boone said. "Everything out here is for the purpose of not only providing food, but providing access to opportunities to start business and to even get jobs."
The farm accepts EBT-SNAP benefits in a effort to provide access for low-income families.
The farm is continuing to grow with plans for a blueberry u-pick field, outdoor classroom and the restoration of Moncrief Creek.