On February 17th, 2024 MOA – Missouri Organic Association celebrated their first Growers of the Round Table event in collaboration with Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA).
CCUA is an enthusiastic supporting partner of Midwest TOPP and Missouri Organic Association. CCUA – Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture works to enhance our community’s health by connecting people to agriculture and the land through hands-on learning opportunities, from seed to plate.
This event is a new idea and its mission is to spread the word about TOPP, the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP), to farmers of the Columbia Farmers Market. We provided a casual atmosphere with the goal of fostering a welcoming space to discuss all topics regarding organic farming production, 13 farmers attended the event.
The event started with a brief introduction by Teresa Morris, Coordinator of TOPP and followed with our guest speaker, a TOPP Mentor, discussing why he chooses to be organic certified and what it means to him and his family to be an organic farmer. Topics that were discussed included the perceived value of the organic seal, understanding the current market constraints for entering the certified organic market, and the perception of paperwork organic system plan. We are looking forward to a follow-up workshop with CCUA that will provide guidance on completing an organic system plan.
It was a great afternoon, leaving us excited to continue our work together as we support more farmers during their operations transition to organic management. afternoon and I look forward to visiting with our new potential mentees for TOPP soon.