A loan helped expand the varieties of microgreens and edible flowers available for sale!


Laverne's story

LaVerne (myself) and Muhamad are community-based agricultural enthusiasts that focus on the cultivation of high-quality specialty crops for local and global markets. I, LaVerne am a nutritionist by education and Muhamad is an acupuncture physician licensed in the state of Florida. I, LaVerne specialize in helping small farmers access mostly federal funding to grow their farms. They each have over 40 years’ experience in growing food and community activism.

Muhamad was born in Jamaica, in the countryside of the parish of Hanover. Muhamad was cared for by his grandmother, Miss Annie, who mostly used fresh foods, harvested just prior to eating. Canned, frozen, or otherwise pre-packaged foods were mostly unfamiliar.

When Muhamad immigrated from Jamaica to the UK, from there to Canada, and then to the US, he observed the consumption of a high degree of starch and processed sugar, canned and frozen vegetables and meats that were highly salted.

We note that years of consumption of nutrient-deficient processed foods leads to an increase of degenerative diseases.

I, LaVerne was born in Washington, DC with Senegalese and Sea Island heritage. Senegal and the Sea Islands have lots of coconut, sugarcane, bananas and other familiar tropical foods.

We both eventually moved to Florida, from different directions, and began to have greater involvement in the cultivation of food, thanks to the influence of our grandparents! As the years in urban farming progressed, we became acquainted with other urban farmers who were cultivating microgreens and other specialty crops.

We have determined that building out tractor trailer containers into cultivation spaces is a great solution. We have added to our skillset the conversion of tractor trailer containers into microgreen, baby greens and edible flower growing rooms.

Our experience has shown that we have winning products, great management and nowhere to go but forward.


This loan is special because:

It supports a small business owner with 0%-interest, zero-fee capital.



Loan details


About K'IRISI GROUP, LLC

Industry: Agriculture
Years in operation: 3 years - 5 years

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Loan details