Auburn economists: Shoppers willing to pay more for Alabama grown products

A research team from Auburn University recently partnered with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries to gauge shoppers preferences for goods, particularly sweet potatoes, grown in Alabama versus those grown outside the state. The study, which utilized the statewide agricultural label Sweet Grown Alabama for analysis, was conducted at five farmers markets in Huntsville, Birmingham, and Baldwin County. Joshua Duke, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology at Auburn, discussed why the study matters to Alabama. “This study is significant not just for fa