When you think of the term “generational wealth,” what comes to mind? For some, it may be millions of dollars. For others, it could mean expensive belongings passed down through the branches of the family tree.
For Travis Melvin, owner of Melvin’s Produce Farm, generational wealth looks like rows of seasonal crops, fields of cabbage and soil that’s been in his family’s hands for years. It’s the kind of wealth you don’t store in a bank, but rather it’s rooted in the land.
Melvin is part of the new generation of farmers who blend old-school knowledge with modern practices. He’s two years into officially running Melvin’s Produce Farm, 15 acres of land off Deep Creek Road in southeastern Fayetteville that’s been cultivated by his family officially since 1976, when the land’s Farm ID number was created. It began with his thrice-great-grandfather, transitioned through his father, who once raised pigs and farmed produce and tobacco, and now it’s Melvin’s turn in the tractor seat.
Melvin recalls picking corn and okra when he was a child, something he believes was the early start to his work ethic, back when his father utilized the land mostly for his family’s needs. But the landscape has shifted, and so has the mission.
Cheribeth Thomas, who works for Cumberland County as a print, mail and design manager, said his tireless work ethic, being similar to her own, felt like a magnetic pull toward Melvin when they started dating about five years ago.
“He is non-stop. If you want to get on his calendar, it better be in the time that you are going to join him on a project or in the midst of his work,” Thomas said. “He is truly dedicated to what he does. He wants to make a difference.”
Persistence and growth
This year marks Melvin’s first real journey into selling directly to the local community. In the past, he sold much of his produce to nonprofits and food hubs, but funding for many of those programs has been cut or paused recently, in part due to the Trump administration’s push to slash federal funding and agencies.
In North Carolina, The News & Observer reported that massive cuts have been implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture. In order to “align the initiatives with current Trump Administration priorities,” according to USDA, cuts totalling over $30 million have been made to federal programs that the state has participated in since 2022.
Some of the axed initiatives include opportunities that purchased crops from local farmers and gave the produce to people in underserved communities, food banks, and schools, as reported by Reuters.
Randolph Keaton is the executive director of Men & Women United for Youth and Families, a nonprofit organization that works to provide resources, including a food hub in Delco, to underserved communities in North Carolina. He told CityView that funding cuts affect the nonprofit’s ability to reimburse farmers for their produce as payment.
“Funding cuts have affected a lot of nonprofits, and it hurts the farmers,” he said, explaining that when nonprofits are limited in their ability to reimburse farmers for their crops, those farmers lose a sales market.
Keaton explained that some of his nonprofit’s missions focus on economic development and food insecurity, helping farmers to find avenues to sell their harvests and get that produce in the hands of people who need it.
The importance of ensuring fresh, healthy food is available to those in need is something that Melvin, Thomas and Keaton all believe in.
“If you have healthy food, you have healthier lifestyles,” Keaton said.
Recent funding cuts have shifted Melvin towards selling directly to the local community in person.
“This is going to be new for me, this year, getting people coming down and selling to the actual public,” Melvin says.
Melvin’s approach to farming is rooted in community and long-term sustainability. He wants to make healthy, local produce more accessible while building the farm into a self-sufficient operation, and hopes to get a certified organic designation within the next few years.
Back to the land
Melvin didn’t go straight back to the farm from college. After graduating from East Carolina University in 2009, where he played football, he tried his hand at everything from managing housekeeping operations for a contracting business, to long-haul trucking, to running a restaurant. Cooking has always been a passion, and at one point, he owned the popular farm-to-table barbecue operation, Smoked Fresh, sourcing some products straight from Melvin’s land. But like many businesses, Covid-19 hit hard and Smoked Fresh closed its doors.
Melvin regrouped. He still had the land and still had the knowledge. He decided to go all in on the family farm. This isn’t just a nostalgia project, though. It’s a business, and like any business, it’s had its share of growing pains.
“It’s been, I guess you could say, humbling, for sure. Life will beat you up,” Melvin said, talking about the challenges his businesses have faced in the last few years, from Covid-19 to building up his produce operation. “But you have to just stay focused on what’s positive in the growth, in and out of the field. That’s kind of my motto: grow as much as you can, put your all in it, and see what happens.”
Rows of crops, rows of goals
Melvin’s Produce Farm hopes to be the home for a variety of seasonal crops like tomatoes, okra, corn, watermelon, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage and broccoli. This spring, Melvin planted several hundred cabbage and broccoli plants, and they’re already flourishing.
Each day begins the same way, by walking the land, checking the crops and planning what to plant next. Farming on a small scale means strategic thinking is important. There’s no time or energy to waste.
“Before I just go moving and doing stuff, I kind of have to think it out,” he said. “What needs to be done first? What’s next?”
He’s currently in the process of applying for programs through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help build irrigation systems and a high tunnel greenhouse, something that Melvin says he wouldn’t be able to do on his own. Programs like these are of great importance to local farmers because they help reduce the costs of building, maintaining and operating a farm so the farmer can focus on what really matters — the crops.
Irrigation ponds and high tunnels aren’t just things that are nice to have, they’re complete game-changers. With better watering systems and controlled environments, Melvin could grow year-round and experiment with new crops that typically can’t thrive in the open fields of Fayetteville.
“My dad and grandfather didn’t have this kind of help,” Melvin said, talking about these NRCS programs. “I found out about it last year, and as soon as I did, I jumped on it.”
If these opportunities go through, it could take Melvin’s Produce Farm to the next level.
It’s a lifestyle
Melvin doesn’t want people to just buy his produce, he wants them to understand it. Eventually, he’d like to open a small market on the farm, welcoming kids from local schools to see how food is grown, and maybe offering learning opportunities on home gardening.
“I want it to feel like anybody can come down here,” he said. “I’m not trying to be exclusive. I want people to feel like they can come here and learn about what I’m doing.”
Melvin and Thomas want to show the local community where their produce comes from and share the unique sense of tranquility that being on the farm offers.
Thomas told CityView that time on the farm is full of hard work, but also feels like a retreat from the busy day-to-day life in Fayetteville.
“The transition from the office to having your feet literally in the dirt,” she said, “you just feel grounded after a while — able to be free and in nature.”
Melvin also hopes to bring animals to the farm, like chickens and goats, for agricultural support. Along with animals that can help with things like brush control around the land, he wants to raise honeybees and offer local honey, fresh from the farm.
Melvin says there’s just something about having honeybees and learning about them that makes him excited, his face lighting up at the mention, from the potential honey collection to the welcome help in pollinating his crops.
“I’m not trying to be the honey guy with labels everywhere, but I want a good product for people,” he explains.
Something to leave behind
Melvin’s ultimate goal is clear. He wants to build something that lasts and something his children can inherit. Whether they choose to run the farm themselves or hire someone to do it, he wants them to have options, to own something real, and to carry forward the work of generations of Melvins.
Melvin also sees farming as a piece of the larger puzzle for the community. Food security, health and well-being for the community are all aspects he considers while doing his work.
“The main thing is just having something for people, and they know where it’s coming from,” he told CityView. He wants people to understand the difference between produce grown in local soil versus something flown in from across the world.
Farming isn’t just a job. It’s a lifestyle, a legacy and a mission. Every seed Melvin plants is a step toward a bigger dream: a self-sustaining farm, a stronger local food system, and a future his kids can be proud of.
When Travis Melvin walks the land at Melvin’s Produce Farm, he’s not just tending to crops. He’s cultivating a future that’s been generations in the making.
He may be just a couple of years into running Melvin’s Produce Farm full-time, but he’s already redefining for himself what success looks like in the world of agriculture. It’s not about flashy equipment or giant yields. It’s about purpose, community and building something that lasts.
At the end of the day, that’s what generational wealth really is. Not just what you leave behind, but what you grow, season after season, lesson after lesson, root after root.
Read CityView Magazine’s “Home & Garden” May 2025 e-edition here.
