The purpose of Grow Alabama is reversing the ratio of foods consumed in Alabama to the foods grown in Alabama, thereby increasing the production and profitability of all Alabama farmers, enhancing the economic viability of all Rural Alabama and bringing economic and environmental sustainability to the state as a whole, while providing the people of Alabama the highest quality food available.
Billions of dollars lost due to farm products purchased out of state
If you knew that there was a problem in Alabama that was harming some or many of our people and you could help that situation without it costing you any more money or time, would you want to help? Not by spending more, but by re-directing your food dollars to support the farmers in Alabama. You can make a big difference in the quality of life for yourself, as well as the rural communities in Alabama, as well as for the farmers of Alabama. Grow Alabama is a solution to several major problems now confronting Alabama and many Alabamians.
The problem comes down to the fact that well over 90% of all foods consumed in Alabama come from some other state or country; this number provided by agricultural officials of the State and USDA. I will not go into the reasons for this problem, but there are additional significant problems created as a result of this.
With this problem, farmers of Alabama have been leaving the farm by the 1000s every year. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were industry to go to, but this is not the case. They become, merely, unemployed. Those still farming have their problems in having the money necessary to farm and delivering quality product; the distance between farm and population centers being part of the problem. Hence, the farmers remaining are generally doing poorly, with few exceptions.
With this problem, Alabama’s rural communities are in a shambles. Some are as “third world” as any country that you know about. Many of their people live on food stamps and government assistance, hygiene and nutrition are a problem. There is little or no choice. Truly, there is deep hopelessness.
In addition, Alabama’s economy is in a shambles. There is no money for health care, schools, roads, the elderly, or to support the rural communities. With over 90% of all food consumed in Alabama not being grown in Alabama, the loss to Alabama is in the Billions of dollars, yearly. We have voted down the “opportunity” to bring in gambling to the state. This seems to have been everyone’s (the power people) great last hope to “save” Alabama. Personally, I tend to go along with the “no gambling”. Nevertheless, we do need to find some way to bring in a lot of money to the state—for all those reasons. Turning around agriculture in the State would produce more financial income than any lottery could. But there is another thing that a project like Grow Alabama could bring to Alabama—unity. And this unity bringing self-sufficiency and a degree of prosperity, to many that need a little; and a little hope, and the opportunity to send their kids to college.
The purpose of Grow Alabama is reversing the ratio of foods consumed in Alabama to the foods grown in Alabama, thereby increasing the production and profitability of all Alabama farmers, enhancing the economic viability of all Rural Alabama and bringing economic and environmental sustainability to the state as a whole, while providing the people of Alabama the highest quality foods available.
I say, “everyone would be considerably better off if Alabama were more self-sustaining, with regard to producing more of the food that it needs for its own people”.
Alabama has a great agricultural heritage. It has always been known, throughout the country, as being strong in agriculture. Personally, I recall my third grade teacher reading from the Weekly Reader: “Alabama is one of the few states in the country capable of producing most of the food that its people need”. We can do a better job of taking care of our own simply by buying from the farmers of our state. And believe me they want you to have what they grow. And they will grow it, if you want it. This would make them feel proud and worthwhile. Economist say that a dollar spent in a given community is multiplied 7 times. Dollars spent to buy food from other states are just gone.
Now, there are reasons why you can’t get very much “grown in Alabama” produce. Yes, they don’t grow it! Why?? At this time, the Alabama farmer is not producing enough to regularly supply grocery stores, so the grocery stores started buying everything from out of state. Since this started, over the last 30+ years, the farmers have actually lost their ability to produce enough, with sufficient quality and reliability, for the stores to buy from them. The stores make agreements with huge growers in other states because the Alabama farmer has lost his ability to produce reliably in both quantity and quality.
I remember last summer there was a statewide campaign to encourage the citizens of Alabama to go to the major grocery stores to buy Alabama produce. When I arrived at the store, from which the TV program promoted “Buy Alabama Produce” there was nothing there but watermelons-from Alabama. And no produce was marked “from Alabama” because it was not from Alabama. There is very little Alabama grown produce in Alabama grocery stores and none of the produce is marked “from Alabama”. Another statewide program promotes the public going to the county’s farmer’s markets. There is supposedly one in all 67 counties. When you get there, you find few farmers and they each have the same 3-4 vegetables. You will even find at these county markets, produce from other states, although the “farmer”, who is not really a farmer, will say it is from Alabama. In addition, most counties do not have the population to support the number of farmers that farm there already, much less the number of farmers that would farm there if they could get their product to a market that would buy what they had.
I have a plan. The purpose of the plan is as stated above. We must bring back our agricultural abilities for the sustainability of our state, our communities and our individual citizens, at all levels of our society, not just for the farmer’s benefit. I am really only addressing the economic issues here, but our health and the environmental issues are also a significant part of the overall picture.
Step One: Create an appropriate marketing venue
Create a small marketing venue that promotes and sells only Alabama grown produce and meats. Growth requires a demand just slightly larger than the expected needed production. If the demand is too large, hopelessness ensues and production will actually go down. This creates an “appropriate” demand for the farmers to fill. At first, this market must utilize produce from other places to “fill-in” where Alabama does not produce (otherwise we would be in the same place as the county markets with truckloads of 3-4 items). There are many vegetables not grown in commercial quantities anymore in Alabama i.e., carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, asparagus and many more. And, there must be a commitment to replace that which is not from Alabama with Alabama grown, asap. The 1st phase of this program is “creating the demand for the farmers to fill”. The first rule of farming is to never plant a seed unless you have the product from that seed sold before planting. Last year was difficult (for Grow Alabama) because I had no “track record” from which to draw. I could not make promises that I did not know whether or not I could keep. I found enough farmers to make it work without solid agreements so that from May through November over 90% of what we delivered in our weekly vegbox was from Alabama, and was, at least, of transitional organic quality.
I decided to do this as a membership farm, known around the world as a Community Supported Agriculture Farm. Grow Alabama is operating as a multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture Farm, whereas most-not all-of these farms are single operating farms with less than 100 members. This marketing venue lets us know how strong our demand is and it is small enough and slow-growing enough that supplying for it and planning for it can be done without too much difficulty. Speaking about difficulty, the packing and delivery of our product is one of the most critical parts of this program. We are just now getting on top of this and while good; it will be excellent in the very near future; more about this in other writings. This Step One is set up as an LLC business structure. The remainder of the Grow Alabama structure falls under the heading The Grow Alabama Foundation, a 501C(3), non-profit. The marketing program sets the stage for and makes possible The Grow Alabama Foundation. No market (no demand) no production. Additional marketing venues will be developed, as the farmers are able to meet the demands of the marketing venue that we are currently serving.
Step Two: Create a definite crop plan
A “definite” crop plan means that there is a known market for the product, with reasonable projections for growth. Projecting a given number of members for the upcoming busy season, the crop plan can be fairly specific and reliable. Although, other markets and methods of utilizing the product that we promise to buy must be considered.
The current crop plan calls for about 80 acres of production with a “pay to the farmer” value of over $600,000. See attached. It calls for a re-vitalizations of many crops not now grown in Alabama. The crop plan needs to cover the entire state to utilize the full Alabama growing season and to find niches where all crops can produce well, including fruits, berries, nuts and other specialty crops not now growing.
Step Three: Expand the number of farms participating
This is a program I call Get One Over the Bridge. This is about the farmer getting one acre of vegetable production from his farm to the market in the city where it is sold. Now, a farmer may grow more that one acre if he/she is experienced and can afford it, but I am happy to get one farmer to produce one acre and get it to me where I will pay him for it, on delivery. We are encouraging a farmer to grow 4 different vegetables on that 1+ acre for his security. Should one crop have a problem, he still has three more to possibly get to market. Also, for the sake of yearly rotations-which supports his farm being more environmentally sustainable, and crop rotations are a part of the organic rules. One plant family should not succeed a plant of the same family, from one year to the next. In most cases, 3-5 year rotations are recommended. Diversity is most sustainable in the Universe. We extend this diversity philosophy to the practice that we have of using experienced farmers and less experienced farmers; older and younger; smaller acreages and larger; north to south, east to west. We need to explore farming and the niches of Alabama thoroughly. We will find “goldmines” out there. If we can get a farmer to be successful with one acre, he can go bigger next year and more self-sufficiently. In 3-5 years he will be capable of making a good living, solely from his land.
Step Four: Planning for Success, Creating Success
The Master Crop Plan is the initial mechanism for success. We have the crop we need, how much of it we need and about how much the farmer will earn from it. From this we meet with the farmers individually to find out what crop is most appropriate for him and his land. We determine how much land the farmer can afford to grow on. And we assign particular varieties of the different crops. We look at the post-harvest needs and the labor needs along the way. And we look at what it will take to get it to market and what market should his produce go to; or how much to which market. We look at the moneys involved with the crop/variety we are considering for that farmer. We will need to do soil testing and look at the lay of the land. We will look at the availability of fertilizers and soil amendments in his area. We will consider pest management, up front. What can we do now that will save on labor later? What can he expect to gross from his production. With success, what is the next step? From where will the money and/or materials necessary come? Where to get the seed and when to plant and when would be the expected harvest date. All these questions must be considered, and I’m sure many more will surface as we go.
Step Five: Supporting the farmer’s technical and labor needs.
OrganiCorp is the program created to support the farmer in his successful production. Our extension services, Auburn and Tuskegee and NRCS agents are technical resources that must be utilized as much as possible, without over-stressing them. Tuskegee’s organic program, Auburn’s EV Smith facility and staff, as well as the North Alabama organic experiment station project will also contribute.
At the moment, OrganiCorp is two men who will be visiting participating farms, at minimum, every 2 weeks. One will cover South Alabama, the other will cover North Alabama and each will have 15-25 farms to oversee. They will see that preparation and planting is going as scheduled; they will see that proper care is being taken along the way, and they will see that harvest happens and post-harvest procedures are carried out; they will see that transportation for the product is scheduled. They will be aware of disease and pest problems and work with the farmer and extension agents to find an organically acceptable alternative to chemical intervention. They will be aware of labor needs for which a group of highly interested and motivated college-age young people will be available to go out to the farms to work with the farmer to weed, harvest and otherwise tend the crops. These young people are the heart of this program. It is expected that we will house 10-20 “interns” in Harpersville and they will go out in groups of 2s and 3s to different farms 2-3 days per week. We will refine the process over 2-3 years and become highly productive and profitable in 3-5 years. The farmers will win with the support and knowledge and work of the OrganiCorp interns and the interns will learn much from the farmers, and the extension agents will also learn, monitor and see the results of organic farming and everyone comes away bigger and better than before. And the public, as well as the people in the rural communities, will benefit from the lack of chemicals in their food.
Step Six: Expand to other marketing venues
With the marketing venue of the membership program (CSA) being supplied, along with the farmers that want to take some of their product to their local markets or to “fresh” markets in the cities and as product quantities increase, we will explore how to serve some of the health food stores, restaurants and smaller markets. We will explore producing a line of “value-added” products with product that is abundant. Then, finally we will take on supplying the larger grocery stores. In 3-5 years, local, fresh and organic produce will be in big enough demand in Alabama and Grow Alabama produce will be in big enough demand, as well as in great enough production, that we can move into the grocery stores with a section of our own.
