The recently opened Cedar Creek Market, LLC, in southeast Fayetteville, is a one-stop shop for all things fresh—from meats and produce to pantry and skincare products. In collaborating with area farmers, makers and creators and selling their own pastured and pasture-raised meats, owners Channing and Brandon Perdue also champion all things local. This mantra includes supporting local agriculture and agribusiness and educating others on all facets of farm life, long-held missions of this urban farm family.
While the marketplace is new for the Perdues, the couple's time in Fayetteville began 17 years ago when the Army made the city their first and longest-held home. Starting their family jump-started their interest in raising and eating fresh foods, and their goals accelerated in 2018 with the purchase of a 1940s, 10-acre homestead near downtown Fayetteville. On the small acreage, the Georgia natives planted gardens, raised a few heads of livestock and embraced sustainable living.
When Channing decided to homeschool their four children, she found great satisfaction in teaching them where their food came from and involving them in farm projects. Soon, the Perdue house and farm became a neighborhood hangout, where “everyone wanted to get their hands in the dirt and learn,” she said.
In 2021, the budding entrepreneurs turned their backyard efforts into Farms Helping Families Corp., “to start sustainable farms to help feed our community and enrich agricultural knowledge,” according to its mission statement. With Brandon in full-time active duty, Channing spearheaded the efforts and began hosting classes and community events. Lessons on goat milking and home chicken processing, farm-to-table dinners, farm tours, children’s activities and more ensued.
“We just started growing our own food and sharing with the community,” Channing said. “And, you know, a year or so into it, people started asking me questions about how to process chickens and how to raise goats and pigs. They wanted to know how to make cheese and yogurt and how to grow a garden. So, we started teaching classes. Then, it was just our home farm, just 10 acres and a few animals. We raised meat for ourselves and would sell and split a half a hog or half a cow with another family. We grew and canned our own vegetables. And then COVID happened, and everybody wanted to learn more.”
The Perdues expanded with the addition of nearly 400 acres in Cedar Creek, growing Farms Helping Families and creating a burgeoning market clientele. They acquired Charolais, Hereford and Angus cattle, Guernsey-Normande cross dairy cows, Berkshire pigs, various chicken breeds, meat and dairy goats, turkeys, ducks and horses. The farmers obtained certified roadside market certification and began working with a USDA-approved meat processor.
What they then offered through Farms Helping Families, including finished beef and pork bundles, whole chickens, eggs, raw milk and fresh produce from local growers, continues and culminates in Cedar Creek Market, LLC, on a bigger and broader scale. Located at 1304 Cedar Creek Road, the new venue opened for business in July, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting held Aug. 9.
Channing is a self-taught farmer who credits the classes she has taken through the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension, North Carolina State’s Agricultural Institute and the Soldiers to Agriculture program for helping her get where she is today. While no longer homeschooling the couple’s children, Ashlyn, Wyatt, Georgia and Mavrick, respectively ages 16, 13, 10 and 7, she imparts education in everything she does at home and work.
“This is a teaching farm,” she explained. “We’ll hold more classes and hands-on programs to help people learn about animal husbandry, wildlife and plants, nature, how to take care of land and things like that.”
And, as far as the education of one’s kids, a parent’s role never ends. “Here, they learn (many farm things) they will never experience in school,” she said.
Food insecurity is also important to Channing; it’s a subject she plans to tackle more as Farms Helping Families transitions to becoming the teaching-and-serving-families nonprofit arm of Cedar Creek Market, LLC.
“Food is not getting cheaper, and the cost of living is not either,” she said. “So, one way we can battle this is by teaching people how to grow their own food and become more sustainable.”
Right now, however, the option to pick up fresh, seasonal veggies, ethically sourced, all-natural meats in a variety of cuts, homemade jams, jellies and sauces, farm-fresh eggs and everything-included dinner bundles, plus recipes, is something Fayetteville can sink its teeth into.
The market also partners with numerous local and regional organizations and farms to widen its circle and support other small businesses. Such pairings stock Cedar Creek Market’s shelves with honey, jams, sauces, ornamental plants, lotions, goats’ milk soap, local art, fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and more. One very popular collaboration includes made-from-scratch pasta dishes, sauces and fresh bread from Gusto Napoletano Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant.
Outside the commercial arena, affiliations with the NC State Extension/Cumberland County Extension Soldier to Agriculture STAG Program, DOD SkillBridge, the Cumberland County Schools ICON Summer Internship Program and Veggies for Vets, among others, help the Perdues give back and contribute to the community.
Something new is always on the horizon at Cedar Creek Market, LLC. Coming this fall, stay tuned for the market’s six miles of horse trails to open—BYOH!
Connect with Cedar Creek Market, LLC at https://cedarcreekfarmersmarket.com/ or on socials @CedarCreekMarketFayettevilleNC.

(Photo courtesy of Cedar Creek Market LLC Facebook page)