Rotary Welcomes AL Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate

This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham welcomed Rick Pate, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. Pate shared the department's role in promoting Alabama-produced food through programs like Sweet Grown Alabama at points of sale throughout the state and through partnerships with the state Child Nutrition Program to incorporate local produce in school lunches. He discussed the department's early and rapid response to the Covid-19 crisis and explained how small and family-owned farms keep the smaller towns in our 95% rural state viable. Pate explained the department's essential functions, including oversight of food safety, shipping point inspections, livestock and poultry health protection, pesticide management, regulation of weights and measures, and ensuring soil health and sustainability. Pate shared that Alabama is ranked second in the nation in poultry production, second in catfish production and third in peanuts. He said Alabamians can rest easy, knowing the department's oversight keeps food safe for consumers.

"We've got the best food safety supply system in the history of mankind," Pate said. "You shouldn't have to think about it. We think about it every day."