by Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad

It is spring and time for Muhammad Farms to start shipping some of its "holisticly"
grown produce to our customers. Starting the last week in April we are preparing to distribute
broccoli, cabbage, carrots, sweet peas, and spinach. For the summer we have planted wheat that we
will grind into whole wheat flour along with squash, sweet corn, eggplants, cantaloupes, butternut
squash, watermelons, black beans and navy beans. We have posted pictures of our crop and harvest
schedules on .

Under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan the Ministry of Agriculture for
the Nation of Islam has set up buying clubs in eleven cities and established liaisons with many
more. In the past Muhammad Farms has serviced customers in various parts of the country. However,
each year our potential customers seemed to be surprised when the food arrives. They had been so
used to buying highly processed prepackaged ready to microwave food-like substances or simply
gorging themselves at "Murder King", "McDeath" or "Sintucky Fried
Chicken", that when we ship a load of spinach or broccoli or sweet corn, our potential
customers go into "what do I do with all of this fresh produce" shock.

At the kickoff of the Millions More Movement the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said that we
needed to set up our own supermarkets in our neighborhoods and support the Black farmers. The
Ministry of Agriculture went to work and taking the lead from the "New Way of Life" food
buying club in Atlanta fostered the development of similar groups in other cities.

These food buying clubs serve a number of purposes. First, since they purchase quantities of
fresh vegetables and fruits from their local farmers market or food wholesaler, they are saving
money and learning different methods of cooking and storing fresh produce. We even have a list of
recipes on www. MuhammadFarms.com to help them to find tasty methods to utilize the types of produce
that we grow.

Second, when Muhammad Farms has produce available it is just a matter of substituting our produce
for a few items in the food box. Also we have reached out to other Black farmers and connected them
to the buying clubs in their areas.

Third, once the members in the food buying clubs get accustomed to cooking the best of foods,
they and their families refuse to eat junk again. The commercial food system forces food to grow too
fast then picks produce before natural ripening. Therefore the food buying club members are shocked
when some taste for the first time, vine ripened "real food".

When the number of regular buying club members reaches 50, they are ready to incorporate. After
their cooperative reaches a steady membership of 500 families, they are ready to use the capital
that they have been collectively saving to set up a cooperatively owned supermarket.

Fourth, as the buying club develops into a cooperatively owned corporation, a sense of family and
community is established which is the first step towards nationhood. In the days of segregation a
community was based on where you stayed. In the Black neighborhoods everybody knew one another and
looked out for each other. However, the enemies to Black people have managed to use
"integration" to atomize us into selfish "individuals" who are now being plucked
off one by one while nobody sees or cares. To find a job Black people were herded around the country
like a bunch of nomads. Now those jobs have been shipped overseas leaving even the educated class of
Blacks bewildered and stranded in strange neighborhoods. The development of these cooperatives will
be like rebuilding a community of like ideas.

Hurricane Katrina and now our recent visit to Cuba have given us new insight on the problems
facing Black people here and need for the unifying program of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad now
being implemented by his best student, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. The victims of
Katrina in New Orleans were and are still being treated like refugees in their own country. They
were not organized enough to protect themselves against the plans of FEMA. They did not have
contacts outside of New Orleans who had the resources to get them out and put them up on some
property owned by Black people.

In Cuba each family in the cities knows that they will be sent to a family in the country in
times of emergencies. The farmers in Cuba are a part of their national security program.

A leader of the Cuban young social workers told us that the farmer in Cuba is respected because
they need him so that they can eat safe food in times of peace. The head of the national association
of cooperatives told us that each farmer is required to keep on hand a certain number of meat
animals for times of emergencies or invasions so that the city people can leave the danger areas and
survive in the countryside.

The Cuban farmers grow their food organically out of necessity because they can no longer get the
chemicals or fertilizers from Russia or the US. As a result the whole country is healthier,
increasing the life expectancy from 45 to 77.8 years over a 46 year period. McDonalds may have
invaded the Holy City of Mecca but not Havana, Cuba.

Cuba has been through the "fire" and come through as a healthier, wiser, and supportive
society. They were forced by necessity to survive on their own or give in to the "Beast"
90 miles from her shores. Unfortunately, although Black people are suffering in America, they still
have "hope" that white America might accept them. It may be time to let that type of
"hope" die. For five days we watched the victims of Katrina beg America for help. It was
pitiful and scary to watch those Black people being mistreated by FEMA while at the same time
portrayed as villains by the media.

Now the Black people of New Orleans have been scattered to 44 different states while their
government is preparing to have elections without them. Over 10,000 FEMA trailers are still in
Arkansas while Black people have been forced to fit into communities around the country that don’t
necessarily like them because of how the media portrayed them during the hurricane.

Compare this to Cuba where they were able to evacuate everyone from areas in the path of
hurricanes without one loss of life. Compare the situations of those Black people in New Orleans
where the National Guard were ordered to shoot to kill "looters" to save property, while
in Cuba the first priority is the saving of lives not property.

Compare the life styles of Blacks in America to the people of Cuba. In Cuba the people live under
a philosophy of the "Cult of Human Rights", while in America we live under the "Cult
of Greed and Avarice". In America Blacks are shaking their booty, singing dirty songs, running
and jumping over each other to receive that pot of gold that was promised them by the slave traders
that tricked them to America starting in 1555. They still believe that if they get discovered or hit
the number they can participate in the American Dream. They are even gambling with their own health
by putting their mouths in the enemy’s kitchen while they run around fighting for the
"gold".

After Katrina any Black person who still believes that America is looking out for their best
interests, can truly be classified as "Lost in Space". But for those who are not lost we
offer good food from Muhammad Farms and other Black farmers and we say "set up a food buying
club." Information on how to set one up can be downloaded at or email us at drridge@bellsouth.net.

2006 Harvest Schedule for Muhammad Farms

Books and lectures by Dr.
Ridgely A. Mu’min