Renee Carpenter Southard

A Celebration of Life for Renee Carpenter Southard, founder of the Organic Marketplace, in Gastonia, and former president of the Southeast Natural Products Association (SENPA), a national nonprofit that focuses on strengthening the success of independent natural retailers and aligned manufacturers, took place at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, in Belmont, on May 18. Renee died on Jan. 17, 2025, at age 68, and is survived by her sons Michael Southard, Zachary Southard, and her mother, Dean Carpenter. 

In a 2022 article in Natural Awakenings Charlotte, Renee explained that it was her own health issues that prompted her to open Organic Marketplace in 1992, “I was having health issues I’d never experienced before and found that herbs took care of them.” The store expanded from herbs and supplements to a food market and relocated to its current, much larger location, over 20 years ago. 

As president of SENPA from 2020 to 2024, Renee expressed that her goals were to build industry advocacy to the levels when the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which required manufacturers of dietary supplements ensure their products met DSHEA and U.S. Food and Drug Association regulations, passed. According to Renee, “Contrary to what many think, the natural products industry is diligently monitored.” Another goal as president was to teach “owners to look to the next generation for a succession

path … to proactively plan now versus waiting until a sickness or family illness forces you to make a rash decision and leave your business.”

To honor Southard, an educator, advocate and champion of food-based healing who shaped the natural products industry for more than 30 years, the Renee C. Southard Award for Emerging Healers in Natural Retail has been established. The award will provide funding for early-career practitioners—including herbalists, nutritionists, growers, community health workers and independent retail staff—to travel and learn. It’s about learning by doing, in community and place, just as Renee did, and just as she taught.

“Renee volunteered extensively in her community and was always helping where she could,” says Emily Ehinger, general manager at Organic Marketplace, “so this award in her name is fitting.”