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Plain Halves 1 lb.
Label:(#W-4001)
Price:8.95
Pecan Pieces 1lb bag
Label:(W-5000)
In-Shell Pecans 1 lb.
Label:(#W - 5000)
Price:5.5
Butter Roasted & Salted The satisfying blend of crunchy, roasted pecans with salt and butter. 1 lb.
Label:(#T - 2005)
Price:10.95
Our finest pecans drenched twice in the smoothest chocolate. 1 lb.
Label:(#T - 2002)
Price:9.95
That irresistibly old fashioned flavor of cinnamon and sugar everyone loves. 1 lb.
Label:(#T - 2004)
A delightful crunchy pecan that has been slow roasted before being encased in the purest honey and dipped twice in the creamiest, smoothest chocolate available. 1 lb. (#T - 2001)**$9.95
Label:(#T - 2001)
Pecan Clusters A rich mixture of caramel, milk chocolate and pecans. 1 lb.
Label:(#T - 2007)
White Creamy Chocolate A deliciously creamy white chocolate drizzled over our finest pecans. 1 lb
Label: (#T - 2005)
Seventh Heaven Our customers' favorite!!! Seven fantastic flavors in one tin: Double-dipped Chocolate, White Creamy Chocolate, Honey Crisp, Praline, Chocolate Butter Toffee, Chocolate Honey Baked, and Sugar & Spice. 2 lb. Tin
Label:(#S - 1000)
Price:28.95
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SOUTHERN ALTERNATIVES AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE, INC.
Who we are:
Southern Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative, Inc., is a cooperative located in Leslie, Georgia, formed in 1997 and transitioned to its current owners, a group of black women for the purpose of growing and processing shelled pecans and producing pecan candies. The cooperative operates a processing plant and buys pecans from its member black growers, who normally do not share in the profits of the nations leading pecan-producing region. They are members of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and the Southern Rural Black Womens Initiative (SRBWI).
The women behind this cooperative are lifelong advocates that have accepted the challenge of learning the ins and outs of operating a pecan business and processing plant. This provides a means to address the need for new enterprise and opportunities for poor untrained individuals and minority farmers in southwest Georgia. By training and employing local people, and involving farmers, they hope to build a sense of pride and stability in their community for both young and old alike.
As pioneers, many of the women in SAAC have led a community advocacy group called Smithies Women on the Move that runs an after-school program, holds voter registration drives and seeks to prevent injustice by monitoring both courts and council meetings. Other community activities include ministering to the elderly with home visits and field trips, and ministering to prisoners through correspondence and by hosting their families.
Recent Accomplishments and Impact
For the 2008 2009 seasons, Southern Alternatives purchased over 10,000 lbs of in-shell pecans from their African American farmer members. In spite of the downturn in the economy, they were still able to employ five people. They shipped over 3,000 lbs of pecan halves to Equal Exchange, a fair trade company. They also packaged and sold pecan candy nationally.
In 2008 they received support from Oxfam America and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). In 2009 they received support from Equal Exchange and UUSC. This has enabled the co-op to continue operating with technical and professional help.
Southern Alternatives has continued to branch out into Fair Trade networks through sales calls and partnership with Equal Exchange and the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI). They have successfully established business relationships with several co-op and co-op networks throughout the country with assistance from the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF and CDI. Articles about their efforts and success have appeared in newsletters and articles by SRBWI, UUSC, Equal Exchange, and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF. They were invited speakers at a USDA Partners meeting where they were featured as a Success Story. Co-op members recently traveled to Buffalo, NY to attend a Teachers Conference where they were able to speak on the benefits of working cooperatively, network with other co-ops, and promote their business.
SAAC supports local black farmers by purchasing pecans from members who own or lease pecan groves. The farmer members are then able to partake in the processing portion of the business, expanding their involvement in the pecan industry and members of the community benefit by being employed at the processing facility. The owners of Southern Alternatives address many problems associated with an unskilled labor force by hiring and teaching those employed how to operate the plant (shipping, warehouse, packing) and manage the business (bookkeeping, sales, marketing, etc.). Two employees have been able to find other employment using the skills they learned and one of their younger employees has been selected to work with SAAC as a VISTA volunteer for the upcoming year.
Many of the employees will have the opportunity to become business owners themselves by joining the co-operative. Individuals who do not choose to join can continue to work for the cooperative and will have gained the skills necessary to secure non-seasonal positions elsewhere. The co-operative has been able to address poverty, oppression and injustice by developing the organizational capacity of a black owned and operated co-operative that gives jobs to poor people in the community.
Our Story
Services
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Skin Care Products
Tips
Spa appointments
Please feel free call or stop by and make an appointment for any of our spa treatments.
We look forward to serving you!
Spa hours
Tuesday – Friday:
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
(closed Sun & Mon)
Hours
Our Services Include:
For a little extra you can also:
Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Land Assistance Fund
(www.srbwi.org)
(www.oxfamamerica.org)
(www.equalexchange.coop)
(www.federation.coop)
(www.pcusa.org/sdop/)
Payment: We accept Visa & MasterCard via our secure checkout. We also accept Checks and Money Orders at the address below.
Southern Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative
P.O. Box 426 Leslie GA 31764 Phone: 1-229-874-1341 Fax: 1-229-874-1345
Our Commitment To Security: To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Shipping: All products are shipped within 1 week unless express shipping is chosen. Please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.
Refunds: The freshness and quality of our product is guaranteed. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us immediately! A full refund may require an examination of the returned product.
General Policies
The Way We Use Information: We recognize the importance of protecting your personal information. We collect and retain information about you to communicate with you, to process your requests for products, and to inform you about other products that may be of interest to you. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order and as explained here in our Privacy Policy. We do not sell nonpublic personal information about current or former customers, nor do we share this type of information with anyone other than our affiliates. We use the information you provide about someone else when placing an order only to ship the product and to confirm delivery. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order.
We use return email addresses to answer the email we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.
You can register with our website if you would like to receive our brochure as well as updates on new products. Information you submit on our website will not be used for this purpose unless you fill out the registration form.
Non-identifying and aggregate information is used to better design our website and to share with our affiliates. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form, but we would not disclose anything that could be used to identify those individuals.
Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.
FAQ
1)What if I want to buy pecans still in the shell, will this cost less?
Ans. We do sell pecans that are whole or still in the shell. The cost of shelled pecans are less, however, shipping charges may be more due to the additional weight. To order, contact us by phone or fax with your request.
2)Is the pecan processing plant run completely by women?
Ans. Yes. These women come from the same Georgia County and are members of the Southern Rural Black Womens Initiative (SRBWI) for Economic and Social Justice. SRBWI is committed to asset development and helped organize and equip the women with the training/assistance needed to establish a business that would lead to job creation for women in rural Lee County. With the help of the Georgia State Lead, Shirley Sherrod, these women became members of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF, formed a coop and were offered the opportunity to take over the pecan processing facility. The rest, as they say, is history.
3)Does Southern Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative offer other products?
Ans. Not at this time. The women chose the name Southern Alternatives because they intend to expand the type and number of products offered. Be on the lookout for exciting products made exclusively in rural Georgia soon.
P.O. Box 426, Leslie GA 31764 ∙ Tel: (229) 874-1341 ∙ Fax: (229) 874-1345
