A program aimed at helping consumers find where to buy fresh produce and other products from Alabama was celebrated with a special market today in front of the State Capitol.
Sweet Grown Alabama is a nonprofit organization started in September as a collaboration of seven organizations. More than 150 farmers and businesses that produce and sell Alabama products are members. Officials said the program can grow much bigger.
For now, consumers looking for any of about 100 categories of products, from apples to zucchini, can search the Sweet Grown Alabama online database for names and locations of farms, markets, and other vendors.
Gov. Kay Ivey spoke at today’s event, along with Alabama Agriculture & Industries Commissioner Rick Pate. Pate said “locally grown” is the most powerful label for consumers making decisions about buying food products but that it hasn’t always been easy to know when it applies.
“If you stop on the side of the road and somebody’s selling tomatoes there, are you really getting the Mexican tomato or the California tomato or is it actually a locally grown?” Pate said. “To be a member of our organization, you’ve got to actually grow it here. That’s the criteria.”
More than 30 vendors participated in the Sweet Grown Alabama Day market. Angela Arrington, market manager for East Lake Market in Birmingham, sees a lot of potential as the program becomes more well known.
“A lot of our farmers haven’t heard about it yet or are leery of it because it’s something new,” Arrington said. “But I think it’s going to be great. I’m excited about what can happen with the program.”
Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell said the federation has talked about the concept for years and said Pate embraced it when he became agriculture commissioner last year.
“A lot of folks want to know where this is going,” Parnell said. “I’m not sure any of us know where this is going. This has the potential to be much bigger than ever imagined by any of us.
“The first, most logical place is the farmers that grow produce. Produce is grown locally. It’s sold local. It’s easy to put that brand on it of where it came from. But we’ll take this product and figure out how to do more with it.”
Founding organizations were the Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils, Alabama Ag Credit, the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries, the Alabama Farmers Cooperative, the Alabama Farmers Federation, First South Farm Credit, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
About 30 vendors took part in a Sweet Grown Alabama market in front of the Alabama Capitol today.
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July 23, 2020 at 01:30AM
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Sweet Grown Alabama connects consumers with local produce - AL.com
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