Organic Production Focus Groups for the Carolinas

As part of the Southeast Transition to Organic Partnerships Program (SE TOPP), Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) is leading a series of focus groups evaluating barriers to certified organic production in North Carolina and South Carolina. CFSA plans to host six focus groups, three in North Carolina and three in South Carolina, encompassing different regions of each state.

These focus groups aim to gather information from certified organic farmers and those transitioning to organic farming regarding their experience with obstacles in acquiring and keeping their certification— and the effectiveness of government programs. 

The groups will provide valuable insight into how organic farmers are coping with the challenges of transitioning to organic farming and the effectiveness of available programs. Information gathered will be used to identify areas of improvement to help farmers become and remain certified organic.

As part of the SE TOPP program, the content gathered will be used to aid Carolina partners in future programming to support producers in acquiring organic certification. Challenges identified will be discussed with SE TOPP regional leads, and all the way up to USDA. In the focus groups, producers will be briefed on the group’s objectives, the utilization of collected data, and measures taken to safeguard contributors’ anonymity.

We encourage our Carolina partners to recommend participants for the focus groups, share the information within their networks, and facilitate connections between CFSA and suitable local facilitators and locations.

Facilitators:

• Marcus Williams, CFSA Farm Services Director
• Hannah Moshay, NC State Extension
• Hannah Dankbar, NC State Extension