Editor’s note: This profile is from a story focusing on the legacy and future of Black farmers in the U.S., part of The Packer’s ongoing series about urban farming.
Patrick Muhammad, founder of Atlanta-based Your Faith Farms, says his father once asked him, “Son, what are you going to leave your children?”
When thinking about legacy, and what he would pass down to his family, Muhammad says his father asked him to study generational wealth.
“In studying generational wealth, I realized wealthy families usually have a farm somewhere in the portfolio,” he said. “And once I realized this, I began asking, ‘How can we do this?’”
Muhammad, his wife Ishtar and their three children decided to take that first step, which included finding a mentor named Wayne Swanson. With guidance from Swanson, Muhammad says they bought eight cows.
“And with those eight cows, we got our feet wet. About seven months later, we purchased the 31-acre farm in a leap of faith — and named it Your Faith Farms,” he said.
Fast forward 10 years, the first-generation farmer has transformed Your Faith Farms into a thriving homesteading oasis with 40 grass-fed cows, hundreds of sheep and various crops, while operating two farmers markets and a 50-share community supported agriculture program. In addition, he has helped over 30 families purchase and build out their own farms.
Add to that, Muhammad is principal of Chattahoochee Hills Charter School, an agriculture school where he inspires young students with hands-on lessons that extend beyond the classroom. It gives away 9,000 pounds of food every two weeks, illustrating the need in the community as well as the breadth of the school’s impact.
“It started with giving away food from a food bank at our school. I thought it would be a nice community exercise, but we went from needing 2,500 pounds of food every two weeks to 5,000 pounds,” Muhammad said. “Now we give away 9,000 pounds of food every two weeks. And when you see families needing this food — not just getting it because it’s there — you know the realities of the food injustices that are happening in the community.”
Muhammad says his mission is to inspire others to enjoy the slow pace of life and the joy of farming.
His journey has resonated widely; several of his educational videos have gone viral, reaching millions of views and sparking enthusiasm for sustainable farming. His work has received an Emmy nomination and earned widespread attention, with educational videos and features on Netflix’s “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” Fox’s “Home Free” and in a John Deere campaign.
Muhammad says his work at the school is to make sure children understand where and how food gets to their table.
“So, I say we’re an anti-drive-thru school,” he said. “We’re trying to encourage our children to make sure parents don’t go through the drive-thru but instead go to the grocery store, get out of the car, shop the perimeters of the grocery store, purchase those items, come home, take them out of the car, take them into the kitchen and then prepare the food and sit down and eat. That’s not fast food. That’s slow food. So we’re working to make sure children understand that to get a quality product takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Students learn that same lesson through growing food. Every child, Muhammad says, plants a seed twice a year on the campus.
“They’ll plant that seed. They’re going to nourish that seed until it gets up to maybe 2 [or] 3 inches, then they’re going to transplant it to our working farm,” he said. “Once transplanted, they’ll be responsible for maintaining it all the way to harvest. And once they harvest it, then we have an opportunity for them to either consume it on campus or take it home to their families.”
How does Muhammad and his family have the time and energy to work their farm, educate at the school as well as help others in the community start their own farms?
“We have a saying in my family: We want for our brother or sister what we want for ourselves,” he said. And the family puts this mission into practice.
As far as the legacy his father instilled in his mind, Muhammad says, “In creating a legacy, we believe that one man, one woman, one family, can change the world, one seed at a time.”
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