Commissioner Ron Sparks has announced that the Department of Agriculture & Industries has started it’s new “Alabama A+” campaign that will promote Alabama produce and value added products in grocery stores and farmers markets throughout the state. The new promotion showcases Alabama’s farmers and the goods that they produce using visual displays and colorful “Product of Alabama” labels. “When you go to the grocery store, look for the ‘Product of Alabama’ labels to find superior quality and taste in products grown or produced here in Alabama,” said Sparks. “We want to make sure that consumers are aware that they can get home grown specialty products at a reasonable cost right in their local grocery or curb market.” The value of Alabama agriculture is not limited to a few commodities, but offers a wealth of specialty crops produced across the state. All 67 counties have relied,
to some extent, on farming and ranching as an important component of the local economy. Alabama grown products can now be found all over the globe.
Jim Smotherman, President of the Alabama Grocers Association, which represents 1,100 supermarkets, 25 wholesale grocers, and many Alabama food-processing companies said, “We are pleased to partner with the Commissioner in this program. We as Alabamians should promote Alabama products and companies. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Locally grown and produced products such as fruits, vegetables and meats are the consumers’ best value because of the freshness, price and superior quality,” said Charles McDonald, President of the Alabama Retail Association, representing more than 4,000 Alabamaretailers. “We are proud of Alabama’s farmers who bring us these marvelous products.”
Specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, greenhouse goods, Christmas trees, sods, nuts and other items such as satsumas, a tasty mandarin orange produced in the southern sections of Alabama.
Alabama A+