Ambar Ramirez
Words and photos by Ambar Ramirez
“Many people have said, ‘you need a man out here,’ or ‘let a man do that.’ People often think women aren’t physically capable of farm work, but that’s never been a problem here.”
Ashantae Green walks her land with purpose and pride, her boots muddy and her vision clear. Sarah Salvatore and Imani Vidal plow and seed at Eartha’s Farm and Market, not just planting greens but knowledge. These are just some of the many women redefining what it means to farm in Duval County, where 69.4% of the farms are female-operated and where 46.4% of all producers are women—quietly leading a revolution in who grows our food and how.
For generations, farming was considered a man’s trade, shaped by outdated land ownership laws and entrenched gender roles. But that narrative began to shift in 2017, when the U.S. Census of Agriculture broadened its definition of “producers” to more accurately reflect everyone involved in farm decision-making. As a result, the number of recorded female producers rose significantly—from 969,672 in 2012 to 1,227,461 in 2017. While the number of women in agriculture continues to grow, male producer numbers have seen a steady decline since peaking at 2.3 million in 2007, dropping to 2.15 million by 2022.
But of course, numbers are just numbers and they don’t fully capture the impact women in Jacksonville are making in agriculture. Ashantae Green founded Green Legacy Farm and The Farmery alongside her mom, Andrea Bryant-Smith, in 2021. But Green’s connection to the soil runs deeper than that. It’s in her roots. Her great-grandmother was Gullah Geechee, and it was in the East Jacksonville home she built in the 1950s where Green first learned to care for plants and harvest fruit. Where she learned about resiliency and sustainability. It was there, too, that her mother and grandmother taught her how to turn those harvests into Southern staples and classic Gullah Geechee dishes. Still, for Green, her biggest “why” was becoming a mother.
“My son Ayden, I tell people he’s my biggest why. He’s 11 right now, but he was born with sickle cell disease and just very early on I always looked for ways to increase his health,” Green shared.
Green quickly realized that the food and produce sold on the shelves at popular groceries did not have enough nutrients or foods high in oxygen that were detrimental to her son’s health.
“We’ve always grown something, always, but we didn’t really get into production agriculture and teaching other people how to grow food until the pandemic when I couldn’t find the fruits and vegetables that my son’s life depended on on the shelves. So we just really figured out how to do it for ourselves. And I come from a family that’s aware that knowledge is one of our greatest resources, and we like to share that with other people,” Green explained.
Four years after launching the Green Legacy Farm and The Farmery, Green has passed the baton to her mother to leave space for another business venture in agriculture, the Bloom Collective. With Bloom Collective the focus is on hydroponic growing — mainly lettuce, herbs and edible flowers geared toward local restaurants and bars. They’ve also introduced a farm-to-glass slushy cart, which incorporates homegrown fruits and organic juices. While the farm was originally Green’s passion project, she now says it’s “her mom’s baby.” These days, Green is focused on getting their hydroponic system fully off the ground. Unlike traditional farming, hydroponics requires a different skill set and has been a learning curve — one that blends agriculture with technology.
“Growing hydroponically is different from traditional farming and agriculture so it’s been a learning curve for sure, but it’s a lot of technology and a lot of things that I learned in school. I went to school for sustainability and construction architecture so I remember taking plumbing class in school and never thought that I would ever use it, but doing the plumbing and piping for the farm system has been really interesting,” Green explained. “I’m really excited about it because not only will it provide quality greens and herbs and all of that for local restaurants and bars, but it’s bringing it to celebrations. I feel that food is one thing that has a power to connect people and, you know, when you’re celebrating your moments in life, more often than not, food is involved. It’s an extension of celebrating what we create in our life and our moments.”
Agriculture isn’t the only field where Green stands out. While she spends her free time with her hands in the soil, her full-time role is serving as the city’s sustainability manager, working alongside Mayor Donna Deegan.
“I’m used to operating in male-dominated spaces from the very beginning. Whether it’s politics, construction or even down to agriculture, I remember very early on I would go to some of the meetings and find that I’m the only female and sometimes only Black person in there and that was hard because even though my family has been farming for many generations in different ways, like, some folks would look at me and wonder why do I have a seat at a table, you know?” Green shared. “But I’ve made space because I know that I deserve to be there. And I would say being a woman helps me in this space because I really am such a nurturer, and women, we’re like the master creators, right? So I kind of channel that power and energy into creating and growing.”
For Green, being a woman in agriculture and business is an act of resilience, healing and empowerment.
“I’m only 32, you know, and as I say that the number just keeps getting higher and higher, but as I look through my career, I’m most at peace when my hands are in the soil,” Green described. “It’s the peace, the stillness, the slowness and being connected with the land that I really love, and like I said, I’m Gullah Geechee and a woman of color, and there’s a lot of trauma built into this agriculture in general with my community, and I feel that just doing it is a way of healing some of that generational trauma. The empowerment piece is like as you look at things that are happening in the political landscape, like growing your own food and having control of, you know, one of the bare necessities in life is one of the most radical, but the most fulfilling thing you can do when you can have a skill that will help you in perpetuity. It’s one of those things that people think are so simple, but I think having that skill empowers you to have a say in your reality in your future.”
Green isn’t the only woman contributing to the rise of female-led agriculture in Duval County. At Eartha’s Farm and Market, Sarah Salvatore and Imani Vidal are part of an all-women leadership team.
“Our organization was founded by Eartha MM White, a Black woman who was a philanthropist, activist, business owner … in a time when it was almost impossible for women, let alone Black women, to be leaders,” Salvatore shared. “We are constantly inspired by our founder to do the best we can for all the people we can. Eartha’s feels like one big family, feels homey. It feels welcoming and inviting, comforting and nourishing. I think this has a lot to do with women in leadership.”
Founded in 2012, Eartha’s Farm & Market has always aimed to increase food access in the 32209 community while sharing agricultural knowledge with those it serves. As a nonprofit, Eartha’s has grown to include an on-site farmers market, internship opportunities, hosted field trips and a community garden program where residents can either grow food collectively at no cost or rent their own garden bed. As Vidal put it, there is no food justice without recognizing food injustice — and Eartha’s is working to close that gap.
“Some of the neighbors and current community grandmothers were children and young adults when Mrs. Eartha was alive and building the legacy we currently nurture here. When I arrive with a vegetable I offer from seed to harvest, they smile as if it’s a subtle reminder of her work and remark, ‘You’re doing good work for her, baby!’ Since Eartha’s sits in the heart of the Northside where African families have survived harshly, I can only imagine the original vision was to provide quality services to those who have been purposely and historically denied humanity,” Vidal shared. “The evolution would be acknowledging the inhumanity that inspired Mrs. Eartha to build spaces for elderly care, youth involvement, social gathering and health-conscious nourishment then and recognizing why it’s not only important but why it’s being denied to this day for all poorly paid, houseless, student, part-time and full-time workers.”
Eartha’s Farm & Market believes that everyone deserves access to high-quality, nutrient-dense food. The farm uses regenerative and organic growing practices and sells its produce directly to the local community through its on-site market. To ensure affordability, Eartha’s participates in programs like Fresh Access Bucks, which doubles SNAP benefits, and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), allowing WIC recipients to shop at no cost. The farm also offers a free community garden program, inviting residents to grow their own food. In addition, a mutual aid produce box is kept outside the farm, stocked with fresh items for anyone in need. And, being a women-led farm and market, everything is done with “intentionality and connection” as Salvatore put it. Other than providing high-quality food and produce to communities that may otherwise not have it, Eartha’s is proud of the inclusive community they have woven into the fabric of this community.
“Women are the first home for every mammal. We use every fabric of our being given to us from every mineral from every planet and molecule of the galaxy for our entire body’s material. I feel we do the same here at the farm,” Vidal said. “I know every inch of this farm has gotten my sweat, food, thought and heart. We’re always telling visitors about our matriarch’s bravery it took to be gifted this land, the story of this piece of Earth’s abuse and resilience, as well as the importance of care to the environment.”
As more women step into leadership roles in agriculture, whether growing herbs hydroponically, cultivating community gardens or managing city-wide sustainability efforts, they’re not just feeding neighborhoods, they’re reshaping systems. In Duval County, where nearly half of all farms are led by women, it’s clear that the future of farming is inclusive, innovative and deeply rooted in care. From Green’s vision for celebration through food to White’s mission of food justice, these women are planting seeds of change—and the harvest is just beginning.
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