Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Cedric Shannon, along with his family, sell rabbits, turkey, chickens, eggs and hogs to local restaurants, markets and stores.

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Name: Cedric and Sarah Shannon
Business: Weathertop Farm
Products: Rabbits, turkeys, chickens, hogs, chicken eggs, duck eggs
Location: 963 Eanes Road, Check

Cedric and Sarah Shannon drove to Virginia from Illinois in 2003 with 11 rabbits, five children and a dream to produce good food on their own farm. Five years later, the couple work from before dawn until after sundown, bringing fresh grass to their rabbits, turning the chickens out to feed, scratching their hogs’ bristly backs and packaging fresh eggs.

The Shannons, who are both in their mid-30s, sell their meat wherever they can — at the local farmers market, restaurants and stores. Every spring, they send out a newsletter to regular customers with products and a price list.

This year, the letter included a word about higher prices: “The simple explanation is that the cost of feed is skyrocketing.”

In addition, they recently had to cut back on their rabbit production because health department rules prohibit restaurateurs from buying rabbits that are not USDA-inspected.

In a country where the average farmer is nearing retirement age, the Shannons represent a new, younger generation of farmers trying to lure consumers away from factory food.

While their daughter Natasha starts her own little flock of Bourbon Red turkeys and son Sami focuses on duck eggs, the Shannons keep cinching their belts and hoping that by the time their children are grown, small farms will be a more profitable way to make a living.

“It used to be that farmers were the aristocrats” in this country, Cedric Shannon said. “We don’t value them anymore.”