Demystifying Organic vs Local Conventional Food

Organic and conventional agriculture are different, but how? You may be surprised how similar Organic and GAPs farms are. Come sit in on a candid conversation with a local conventional farmer and a local organic farmer.

Moderator

Lynn Shanklin Caldwell
Founder – Suede Onion

Lynn Shanklin Caldwell is a Charlotte-area native who spent seven years in Seattle during her nine-year stint at Microsoft. She founded the year-round Atherton Market (now called South End Market) in 2010 to showcase local farmers and artisans from the Piedmont region.

In 2014, Lynn developed a plan to establish the Charlotte Food Innovation District as a platform to encourage the development of food businesses to address food aggregation and distribution; a culinary incubator to accelerate food businesses; and education around urban farming.

In 2015, Lynn formed Suede Onion to become the catalyst for those businesses as a consultant, while also helping other food-related businesses grow and develop.

Panelists


Mary Roberts
Owner – Windcrest Farm Organics

Mary Roberts is owns Windcrest Farm, a USDA Certified Organic farm and greenhouse in Monroe, NC. After twenty years as a corporate instructor and project manager, Mary turned her passion for growing plants organically into a business that supplies market farmers and home gardeners with over 300,000 heirloom vegetable, flower, herb and fruit plants each year as well as growing fresh produce for local farmers markets and restaurants. In addition to growing specialty and hard-to-find plant varieties, Mary also conducts on-farm classes to help the beginner and the advanced farmer and as well as gardeners learn the principles and practices of sustainable agriculture.


Brent Barbee
Owner – Barbee Farms

Brent Barbee is a sixth generation farmer at Barbee Farms, a 60-acre farm in Concord, NC. His farm produces 60 different products sold to restaurants, distributors, as well as direct to consumers. His expertise is fruit and vegetable diversity for midscale farms, and he has gone through the GAP and FSMA certification.