Yasmeen Salaam
Yasmeen Salaam | Founder and CEO, Carver’s Produce, Atlanta, GA
“When you do the common things in an uncommon way, you'll command the attention of the world.”
-George Washington Carver
As Salaam’alaikum [peace be upon you]. My name is Yasmeen Salaam, and I'm the Founder and CEO at Carver’s Produce, a boutique third party logistics agency specializing in sales, UX and fulfillment solutions. We continue the tradition of George Washington Carver by providing startups with equitable solutions to amplify their brand and retail markets. While an undergrad at Tuskegee University, I studied the adverse effects of food deserts in urban communities and noticed how growers and startups lack the supply chain resources to scale, and how this was a direct correlation to the increase of diet related diseases, primarily in indigenous, black and brown communities what we now call BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] and I wanted to change that.
I knew I had to create a sufficient business model to transform how food was accessed across urban communities nationwide. Growing up in Imam Warith Deen Mohammed's community, may Allah be pleased with him, we value the principles taught in the first resurrection of our collective Muslim spirit - to do for self. My parents were owners of the Co-op store during the AMMCOP [American Muslim Mission Committee to Purchase 100,000 Commodities Plus] days, which is a collective buying program our community had to purchase over 100 thousand products to circulate within the community nationwide. So when I designed this model I wanted to incorporate the principles I was taught at home, in my community, and during college. I wanted to help minority growers and students like myself who needed access to fresh, culturally relevant food products and resources, but were forced to travel 30 miles outside of their town just to find it.
When I began this project, I had to pull truly from a spiritual source. I had to ask Allah, “why was I created? Why did you create me?” And I went through this research project after I lost my father. And so these questions about life came to me so suddenly. And so the question came with an answer. And that answer was through the Qur'an.
Allah tells us that we’re vicegerents, and being a vicegerent is being a caretaker of the earth. And in order to be a caretaker of the earth, the first caretaker was the farmer. And I truly do believe that the flow of Allah's decree has a way of positioning the believer for success.
The pandemic forced us to pivot from selling subscription boxes to solely focusing on our niche, which was helping to sell, design and fulfill orders for food startups. Alhamdulillah. Since 2020, we've expanded our cold storage access to the Atlanta State Farmers Market, and we now have a smart grocery store located within a food desert neighborhood, which gives minority brands top market visibility among food service buyers and consumers. Through our smart store, our program will have the ability to scale products from farm to shelf in a matter of six to eight weeks, which is unheard of due to the lead time it takes to produce and move product. So it's safe to say, Insha’Allah [G-d willing], we're preparing for a successful [2022], and although I love advocating for food sovereignty, I'm also equally as passionate about mental health for entrepreneurs. Being in agriculture and supply chain mixed with a little bit of UX [User experience], it allows me to see the interconnectivity between moments of time, and I truly believe the natural world is the first healing modality, and when we immerse ourselves into the soil of nature. We will evolve like the plant waiting to sprout from the ground. I truly believe Allah has given us the power to be alchemists, not only of our minds, in our businesses, but at the material expression we produce from it. And it's my greatest hope and prayer that as a people, we continue to cultivate that unique cultural expression that's within us. May Allah continue to reward the believers, strengthening our collective destiny. Ameen.
Learn more about Carver’s Produce here: https://www.carversproduce.com/
