The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) is a 501(c)(3), membership-driven nonprofit organization founded in 1979, dedicated to advancing organic agriculture and local food systems in North Carolina and South Carolina through educational programming, farmer technical assistance, advocacy efforts, and food systems initiatives.
CFSA’s Mission: CFSA advocates, educates, and builds connections to create sustainable food systems in the Carolinas centered on local and organic agriculture.
CFSA’s Vision: A sustainable regional food system that is good for all consumers, farmers, farmworkers, and ecosystems.
CFSA’s Approach: We bring farmers, consumers, businesses, nonprofits, and governments together to make the Carolinas a model for a better, cleaner, healthier food system.
Our Impact
Carolina farmers have made this region a leader in local and organic food, and CFSAโs network has fueled this transformation through trainings, targeted food system investments, direct technical assistance, advocacy at all levels of government, and nurturing community leadership.
Key Lifetime Impacts:
- 3,000ย members
- 14,311 farmers served since 2012, impacting 200,000+ acres
- 1ย mil+ lbs locally grown foods provided to Carolinians experiencing food insecurity since 2020
- 96 grassroots leaders cultivated since 2020
- 35% organic sales growth in the Carolinas since 2007
Key 2025 Impacts:
- 1,061 learners reached across 30 workshops, webinars, and courses
- 171 farmers received Technical Assistance
- 16 peer mentorship pairings for farmers transitioning to organic production
- 91 community leaders trained
- 116 meetings with legislators and elected officials to advance farm food and farm policies
- 670 attendees at the Sustainable Agriculture Conference
- 2,177 visitors on the Piedmont Farm Tour
- 155 attendees at the Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference
2025 Impact Report:
45th Anniversary (2024) Impact Digest:
Frequently Asked Questions
What are CFSA’s key program areas?
1) Technical Assistance: We provide farmers and food hubs with the support, resources, and hands-on assistance they need to be resilient, profitable, and productive. CFSAโs Technical Assistance Program areas include Farm Food Safety, Organic Production, Conservation Planning, Climate Resilience, High Tunnel Production, and Market Access.
2) Education: We host conferences, workshops, meetups, and farm tours to keep farmers and food systems stakeholders engaged, connected, and informed. CFSAโs signature events include the Sustainable Agriculture Conference, the Piedmont Farm Tour, and the Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference.
3) Advocacy: We train food and farming community leaders, drive local, state, and national policies, and coalition-build for strong, thriving fair food and farming systems.
How does CFSA’s work impact local food consumers?
CFSAโs work with farmers empowers you to know whatโs in your foodโbecause being organic means being fully traceable from farm to fork. We help strengthen community food security programs so more people have access to locally grown, organic food. CFSA works to build more environmentally conscious food production and distribution systems that benefit you, our community, and our planet.
How does CFSA’s work impact farmers across the Carolinas?
CFSA provides direct technical assistance, workshops, and resources to farmers on organic production and certification, conservation activity plans, food safety, high tunnel production, and accessing new market channels. We advocate for equitable and ecologically minded food and farm policies that benefit small and mid-scale sustainable farms. We also conduct on-farm research and provide educational opportunities for the next generation of farmers at our Elma C. Lomax Research and Education Farm.
How does CFSA increase food security across the Carolinas?
CFSAโs support of farmers, food councils, food hubs, and fair food and farm policies helps increase the food security of communities across the Carolinas. Our produce donation program at Lomax Farm provides thousands of pounds of locally grown food to Concord-area community outreach organizations while our FarmsSHARE program provides a free box of locally-grown produce and protein sourced from small, sustainable farms to households in need. FarmsSHARE strengthens our regional food system by sourcing only from local farms and food hubs, which invests money back into our local food economy.
What are CFSA’s organizational values?
We commit to serving and reflecting diverse stakeholders for a racially just and equitable food system in the Carolinas. We support the critical role farmers, farmworkers, processors, distributors, research institutions, and consumers have in providing all people in our region with healthy, quality food. We promote holistic, regenerative farming practices that close the carbon cycle and build soil health, crop resilience, and nutrient density. We champion a food system that is secure, resilient, and responsive to climate change and that protects natural resources for future generations. We pledge to provide resources for farmers, producers, purchasers, and policymakers to encourage accountability from the field to the fork. We prioritize fiscal responsibility and value collaboration with partners to leverage resources.
What are the benefits of CFSA Membership?
Discounted pricing on all CFSA courses and workshops, including our signature events: the Sustainable Agriculture Conference, Piedmont Farm Tour, and Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference; Farm technical assistance from CFSAโs Farm Services team across key topic areas; Job Board posting access; Crowdfunding Board posting access; Subscription and posting access to the CFSA Member Listserv; Participation in our periodic virtual Member Meetups, featuring guest speakers from across the food and farming system; Eligibility for CFSAโs Member Advocacy Program, a virtual, cohort-based community advocacy training course; Invitation to CFSAโs Annual Meeting; voting rights on Board of Directors candidates; Exclusive discounts from our Member Perks business partners.
How much does CFSA Membership cost?
Farm Membership costs $40/year with discounted options for limited resource farms, and covers any employees on your farm. Friend Membership costs $40/year and is the perfect choice for home gardeners, food systems professionals, and local food lovers of all backgrounds. Nonprofit/Organization Membership starts at $75/year and covers any employees. Business Membership starts at $100/year and covers any employees. Farm & Friend memberships above $40 are considered tax-deductible contributions to CFSA. All membership levels come with the same benefits.
What is CFSA’s Tax ID Number?
CFSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, EIN# 24-004-0340. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
When and where do CFSA’s signature events take place?
The Sustainable Agriculture Conference is held each fall between late October and mid-November. The conference venue changes each year! Recent locations include Durham, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Piedmont Farm Tour is held on or about Earth Day weekend (April) each year, in the Triangle region of North Carolina: host farms are located in Orange, Durham, Chatham, Alamance, and Person Counties. The Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference is held in early March each year, and is hosted at different agriculture-focused venues in North Carolina. Recent locations include the NC A&T State University Farm, the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, and the University of Mount Olive Field Station.
Our History
As the Southeast’s first organic for organic farmers, CFSA has worked to unite farmers, consumers, and businesses to build a healthy, just, and sustainable food and farming system since 1979. Here are some highlights.
A group of farmers comes together seeking to practice organic farming and build a food system that re-centers communities. CFSA is born, and incorporates as a nonprofit in 1982.
1986 – CFSA hosts our first Alternative Farming Field Day, which becomes our annual signature event in the form of the Sustainable Agriculture Conference.
1987 – CFSA launches an organic certification program at an annual rate of $30.
1990 – Then-Board Member Ken Dawson testifies before Congress on organic agriculture in the Farm Bill; Congress passes the Organic Foods Production Act.
1995 – CFSA holds its first annual Piedmont Farm Tour.
1998 – 300,000 comments filed in opposition to flawed National Organic program draft rules.
2000 – CFSA publishes the “Carolina Guide to Local & Organic Food,” a consumer resource guide to farms, markets, and restaurants by region.
2006 – CFSA incubation project Eastern Carolina Organics launches as an independent venture (now Happy Dirt).
2009 – CFSA incubation project Common Ground begins independent operation.
2010 – CFSA holds the first Organic Commodities & Livestock Conference in collaboration with NC State University.
2010 – CFSA advocacy wins critical protections for small farms and food entrepreneurs in the Food Safety Modernization Act.
2011 – CFSA launches the Organic Carolina Initiative to strengthen the organic agriculture community in the Carolinas.
2011 – Opening of CFSA incubation project Cobblestone Farmers’ Market.
2012 – Formal technical assistance programs begin in response to farmer need and growing CFSA staff capacity.
2013 – CFSA awards first Dow Scholarship recipients to attend the Sustainable Agriculture Conference at no cost.
2014 – CFSA assumes management of the Elma C. Lomax Research & Education Farm in Concord, NC.
2015 – In partnership with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, CFSA establishes Community Food Strategies to advance food council coalition-building.
2020 – CFSA launches the FarmsSHARE program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing local produce to communities in need across North Carolina.
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
We affirm that racial equityโan understanding and acknowledgment of historical and ongoing racial inequities and a commitment to actions challenging those inequitiesโis a core tenet of Carolina Farm Stewardship Associationโs outlook.
We affirm that racial equity will be embedded in CFSAโs structure, programs, and policy development and advocacy.
Sustainable agriculture has been a long-standing practice in the communities of people of color, migrants, and indigenous groups. We believe that participation and leadership from sustainable agriculture pioneers as well as newer practitionersโdiverse farmers, ranchers, and farm workersโis vital to building the power of the sustainable agriculture movement and increasing its influence on policy.
Because of our commitment to a racially just and equitable food and farm system, we are working strategically and collaboratively to:
- Build a racial equity lens into CFSAโs strategic planning process;
- Build pathways to increase participation and leadership of people with racial/ethnic diversity in our membership;
- Actively challenge policies that perpetuate systems of oppression and inequities in the food and farm system;
- Engage in and support the efforts of organizations led by those most affected by food and farm system inequities and strengthen our role as an effective ally to food justice, farmers/ ranchers of color, and farm/ food worker organizations; and
- Create an ongoing dialogue to explore key concepts including cultural, structural and institutional racism, white privilege, racial equity, and allyship, especially in regard to the context of these issues in food and farming systems.
We recognize that our objectives require ongoing reflection and action. We also recognize the need for adaptation as we encounter new perspectives and additional information; as such, this statement must be a โlivingโ statement, able to be amended as we gain new understandings.
We also know that we are part of a larger network of like-minded organizations striving to fulfill the goals of racial equity within the food and farming system. It is our intent that our membership and allies hold usโand each otherโaccountable to these goals and that we work together to collaboratively address the racial equity issues that most affect farmers, ranchers, workers, and communities.
Page content last reviewed and updated 8/13/2026.
