Click to visit: CEFS End-of-Year Letter 2019 ~ 25 Years of CEFS ~ Our impact on NC Agriculture and Food Systems

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems was formally established at Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro on February 1, 1994.  It represented the culmination of a two-year-long collaborative process that brought farmers, citizens, community groups, and non-profit organizations together with North Carolina State University (NC State), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T), and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS).  Participants came with different perspectives, but shared the same goal: to create a robust sustainable agriculture research and outreach program in North Carolina.

The establishment of CEFS was a victory for stakeholder engagement and collaboration, and set the stage for how CEFS continues to operate to this day.  Please support CEFS as we move into our next quarter century of work to develop and promote just and equitable food and farming systems that conserve natural resources, strengthen communities, improve health outcomes, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond.

“He or she who plants thorns can never get roses.  We’re planting roses today.”

— Former NCDA&CS Commissioner Jim Graham, February 1, 1994