The Roanoker 40 Under 40 Winner: Cameron Terry of Garden Variety Harvests
Cameron Terry voted a Roanoke Leader
The editorial team at The Roanoker has chosen Cameron Terry as a 2022 40 Under 40 Winner from a pool of reader nominees. Applicants were judged not only on their career achievements but also on their involvement in the community and other factors.
Since 2017, Cameron has been farming people’s backyards throughout Roanoke and operates as Garden Variety Harvests (GVH), with the dream of bringing food sovereignty back to his local community and reducing the miles from field to table. His urban farm operates on small plots of leased and borrowed land throughout the city.
GVH is the founding farm of the Southwest Virginia Agrarian Commons.
Find out more about Cam’s immediate plans – read on!
We're Fundraising for Garden Variety Harvests' New Farm Headquarters!
Cam Terry is in the due-diligence phase at what will be Garden Variety Harvests’ new farm headquarters! This farmer of color who has been feeding his community with zero land security on borrowed and leased urban yards will be the recipient of a 99-year lease on a piece of land that fits all of his farming needs. The property you are helping to acquire has the following attributes, making it an ideal location for growing food for the Southwest Virginia community:
- Tillable flat acres to support vegetable farming
- Farm buildings and infrastructure
- Less than an hour’s drive from the Grandin Village Farmers Market
- Road frontage to attract customers to an on-site farm stand and cafe
- Zoning that allows commercial sales, agricultural use, and residential use
"I come from a share cropping farm in Sylvester, Georgia. My grandfather made a deliberate decision to move his children away from that environment because he saw it as deliberately exploitative to people of color."
The Southwest Virginia Agrarian Commons will hold this land for:
- Ecological, restorative agriculture and community building
- Land access and land justice for next generation farmers
- Long-term lease tenure and equity interest for farmers and ranchers
- Stewardship and ecosystem investment
- Viability of farms, ranches, and local agrarian economies
- Opportunities to advance land justice
Donate today to make Garden Variety Harvests’ Headquarters a Reality!
