Victoria Trotter and Green Movement Glenville on Cultivating Change Through Urban Farming
Green Movement Glenville (GMG) is a nonprofit urban farm located in Glenville, OH. Started by Victoria Trotter, the former CEO of a family-owned dry-cleaning business, GMG works to grow food, create community green space and engage young people and families in farming and sustainability. The organization incorporates education, entrepreneurship, and hands-on agricultural training.
GMG’s work aligns with a focus on transforming vacant spaces, supporting beginning farmers, and building climate-smart food systems rooted in community.
Early Roots
After moving to Glenville at a young age, Victoria found a community she was lucky to call home. Though her family initially came to the neighborhood seeking food assistance, her mother’s determination made it unnecessary. Within a few years, her mother had built a stable life and opened the family’s dry-cleaning business, planting the roots for what would later become Victoria’s own path to entrepreneurship.
“People came [to the dry cleaner] even if they didn’t have clothes to drop off—they just came to talk,” Victoria said. “It was a meeting place in a lot of ways.”
Victoria had once planned to leave Glenville but returned to care for her mother’s health and eventually took over the family’s dry-cleaning business. In 2005, new EPA regulations restricted the use of certain solvents. As she began researching safer alternatives, she uncovered the deeper environmental risks of traditional chemicals.
“When I learned what those chemicals could do—what they were doing in the air, in the water—it changed everything,” she said. “Once I started doing the research, I couldn’t unlearn what I found.”
That discovery led her to transition the shop into one of the first green dry cleaners in the area—an early step on a path that would eventually take her from cleaning clothes to cultivating change.
Leaving the Business, Planting a Movement
With urban flight came decades of disinvestment. Glenville—once a thriving neighborhood—was left with vacant lots, closed grocery stores, and the conditions of a food swamp. But for Victoria, Glenville was never just a place of struggle. It was where her family found footing when they needed it most.
“Glenville saved our lives. Cleveland was a buoy for my family. So giving back to this neighborhood is personal.”
That sense of purpose guided her first steps in transforming abandoned spaces into something new. What had once been empty became green, alive, and full of potential. Neighbors took notice. The farm brought beauty, food, and a different kind of gathering space.
After starting GMG, Victoria initially tried to balance both the nonprofit and the dry-cleaning business. But over time, it became clear that running both was unsustainable. Stepping away from her family’s legacy wasn’t a decision she took lightly.
“After a while I just couldn’t do both. People kept asking—why would you leave a business that’s working? But I knew I had to. I still think about it. It was hard. But I’ve made more of a difference with the farm than I ever did with the business. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Teaching More Than Farming
From the start, Victoria saw GMG not just as a place to grow food, but as a space to grow people. Early on, she started the Young Entrepreneurs for Global Change (YE4GC) program, which gave young people the chance to travel—sometimes across the country, and even once to Nicaragua.
“They needed to leave the block. To know their history. To see what’s out there.”
What started as exposure soon evolved into empowerment. Back at home, those same students began taking on leadership roles through hands-on agricultural training. At GMG, young people learn to manage the land, work together, and take ownership of their contributions.
“I didn’t know I was planting an entrepreneurial seed until the harvest came.”
But the work goes deeper than skills—it’s about identity, confidence, and resilience. For Victoria, entrepreneurship isn’t just taught—it reveals itself. She watches how young people respond when given real responsibility.
“I’ll give a task like spreading wood chips. I don’t micromanage. Some kids get to work. Some disappear. The ones still working when I come back? That’s how I know.”
At GMG, young people aren’t just growing food—they’re being tested as future entrepreneurs. The soil becomes a training ground for leadership, self-discipline, and vision.
A Partnership That Scaled the Mission
One of the most transformative relationships for GMG has been with Central State University’s Agriculture Fast Track Beginner Farmer Program. The partnership didn’t just provide education—it delivered infrastructure that took Victoria’s work to the next level.
Through the program, GMG received funding, mentorship, and critical tools like high tunnels and hoop houses that expanded the farm’s capacity. But for Victoria, the impact went beyond the equipment.
“They brought resources, education, and belief.”
Once she experienced the value of the training herself, Victoria invited friends and community members to join the program—many of whom didn’t initially see themselves as farmers or believe they had anything to learn.
“I had friends who didn’t think they had anything to learn. Now they’ve got hoop houses in their backyards.”
What started as a single partnership became a multiplier—spreading knowledge and infrastructure across the community.
“I call Central State a game changer. They made me a believer.”
Growing for the Community
At its heart, GMG is about access. Victoria and her team grow plums, peaches, apples, garlic, basil, and more, much of it available outside the farm’s high tunnels for anyone who needs it.
One of her favorite stories involves a young boy who picked up a fresh peach, took a bite, and immediately tasted something new.
“One kid bit into a fresh peach, and the juice went everywhere,” she recalled. “That’s how food should taste. That’s a seed planted.”
To deepen that sense of sharing, GMG set up a community fridge outside the farm—inviting neighbors to take fresh food home with no questions asked. Not long after it was in use, Victoria noticed something unexpected: people had started leaving food for others, too.
And sometimes, the community’s relationship with the farm shows up in less expected ways—like someone taking a flower. Even when people steal the sunflowers she’s planted, Victoria doesn’t get angry.
“We grow even more now. If you’re going to take a sunflower, I hope you give it a good home.”
She’s seen how that simple beauty resonates. Kids who usually cling to their phones or toys will set them aside just to look at the plants.
“We don’t have a lot. But we have sunflowers. And the kids don’t even touch their devices when they’re here.”
Reimagining What’s Possible
Victoria is already thinking about what GMG could look like in the next five years—and she’s not thinking small. She’s planning to build solar-powered greenhouses that can extend the growing season and lower utility costs. She wants to open a juice café, staffed by local youth, that serves what’s grown on site. She imagines a neighborhood composting system that turns food scraps into fertilizer—reducing waste and keeping the soil healthy.
One of her biggest goals is workforce development. She sees the café as a training ground—an entry point for young people to gain job skills, show leadership, and get a feel for running something real. Some will thrive in it. Some will struggle. But everyone will learn something about what they’re capable of.
“Everyone wants to be the boss—until they realize what the boss does. So, we use the café to test who’s ready. And those who aren’t? They still get a job, a skill, and a good salad.”
Victoria believes Glenville is positioned to lead—not in spite of being labeled a food swamp, but because of it. While the USDA once categorized neighborhoods like Glenville as food deserts, the term has shifted. Now, they’re classified as food swamps—areas where fast food and processed goods are everywhere, but fresh, healthy options are hard to find.
She’s seen that firsthand.
“We’re not even a food desert. The USDA classifies communities like Glenville now as food swamps. What’s in a swamp? Predators. But also, there’s a lot of opportunity and life in a swamp.”
She points to the fact that some of Glenville’s oldest, most stable businesses are fast-food chains—something she’s both frustrated by and trying to change. For her, GMG is a step toward rebalancing what’s available and who it serves.
It’s not just about farming. It’s about making use of what the neighborhood already has: open land, people who care, and a long history of finding ways to make things work. GMG is proof that change doesn’t have to start somewhere else.
“Glenville has the brand. We can honor the past and still be progressive.”
She wants Glenville to be seen as a place where people grow food, build careers, and shape what’s next—not just for themselves, but as a model for other communities facing the same challenges.
“Food is money. Food is health. Food is community. Why shouldn’t Glenville lead on that?”
Start Where You Are
For those hoping to start something similar, Victoria’s advice is direct: begin with what already exists. Look around your own neighborhood. Support the people doing the work—buy from neighbors, lend your time, share what you know.
“Take the baby steps—shop locally, support local farmers, get involved… but don't do nothing, because everybody has to eat”
Victoria doesn’t expect perfection from anyone. But she does expect movement. To her, community change isn’t a grand gesture—it’s a habit. It’s picking up a shovel. Listening more. Showing up even when it’s inconvenient. And remembering that small efforts compound over time.
Victoria doesn’t claim to have all the answers. But she knows this work matters—and that it’s far from finished.
“We deserve good food. Clean food. Fresh food. We are the question—and we are the answer.”
This work was performed under the following financial assistance award 60NANB24D146 from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
###
About Parallax Advanced Research & the Ohio Aerospace Institute
Parallax Advanced Research is a private advanced research institute that tackles global challenges through strategic partnerships with government, industry, and academia. It accelerates innovation, addresses critical global issues, and develops groundbreaking ideas with its partners. In 2023, Parallax and the Ohio Aerospace Institute formed a collaborative affiliation to drive innovation and technological advancements across Ohio and the nation. The Ohio Aerospace Institute plays a pivotal role in advancing aerospace through collaboration, education, and workforce development. More information can be found at parallaxresearch.org and oai.org.