From Total Loss to Sustainable Success

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"Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call. It allowed us to see how close we are to dying. The hurricane is how I became a farmer." - Yasin Muhaimin
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As Muslims, Yasin and his wife Elaine process their chickens by Halal standards.
As Muslims, Yasin and his wife Elaine process their chickens by Halal standards.
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"We couldn't have had this life in New Orleans. We're fully sustaining ourselves here. We have survived" - Elaine Muhaimin
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"The Color of Food" teaches us that the food and farm movement is about more than buying local and protecting our soil. It is about preserving community, digging deeply into the places we’ve overlooked, and celebrating those who have come before us.

The Color of Food, by Natasha Bowens, (New Society Publishers, 2015) teaches us that the food and farm movement is about more than buying local and protecting our soil. It is about preserving community, digging deeply into the places we’ve overlooked, and celebrating those who have come before us. In this excerpt, we meet Yasin Muhaimin who lost everything in hurricane Katrina. He and his wife Elaine worked to rebuild their lives as farmers, finding joy and fulfillment in their work.

Thinking about the resilience it takes to bounce back from struggle and trauma, I steer Lucille toward a region of the country that is still digging deep for the strength to overcome one of the worst hurricanes in our history. Hurricane Katrina impacted millions of lives in the South and dispersed families across states,  leaving them with nothing to rebuild their lives. The Southeastern African  American Farmers Organic Network put me in touch with a family who used their resilience, faith and passion for clean food to find new life after Katrina.

The chicken in his hand clucks wildly as I ask Yasin Muhaimin about his farm.

He swiftly puts the chicken’s neck through the metal cone used to hold it in place upside down and expertly slices its neck. Three more birds with the same fate sit in the adjacent cones. Yasin recites a takbir, a required halal prayer, under his breath as he slaughters each bird:

Bismi Allah, Allahu Akbar [With God’s Name, God is Greater]

  • Published on Apr 25, 2016
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