Christa Barfield, founder and CEO of FarmerJawn Agriculture in Elkins Park, also owns a FarmerJawn farm in Westtown, Chester County, which has recently been subjected to racist and antisemitic vandalism.
According to a police report released on Monday, officers were dispatched for a report of a vandalism at 1023 Westtown Road on Tuesday, August 6 at approximately 4:00pm.
Barfield told police that one of her employees saw an 8’8′ spray-painted swastika on the second floor of her barn (pictured above) on Sunday, August 4.
“The police department has been working with the victim, the administration of the Westtown School, and the school’s Security Office to investigate the crime and its intended target,” the report said. “The police department continues to provide increased patrol to deter any future criminal activity, while the investigation remains active at this time. Due to this being active investigation, the police department will not be commenting further at this time.”
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According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, previous messages included the N-word and the word “Jews” with a large X. A detective visited the farm last week to help install security cameras.
Many of Barfield’s 16-member team are either people of color, women, or Jewish. She has been operating the 123-acre Westtown parcel since 2023.
“Change is not something that people love,” Barfield, a 2024 James Beard Foundation award winner, told the Inquirer. “Jewish, Black, Asian, queer — the list really does go on of what FarmerJawn represents. I think that’s really what the pushback is.”
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Photos: FarmerJawn’s Facebook page