Reviewed by: McCarley Northway
NEW: Alabama A&M’s unique connection to Victoria’s Secret
Reading time: 2 minutes
Alabama A&M has been in the news a lot recently: its band, the Marching Maroon and White, will lead the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade this year, and alumna Jennifer Gray recently designed a shoe inspired by the school for Nike. Now, there’s more news to celebrate.
Victoria’s Secret & Co. expects to double the amount of cotton they’re sourcing from Bridgeforth Farms in 2023. The fifth generation family farm is owned and operated by Alabama A&M alumnus Billy Bridgeforth in Tanner, Alabama. Bridgeforth Farms holds over 10,000 acres of land across four counties and also produces corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and canola in addition to cotton.
Victoria’s Secret sourced 13% of its cotton from Alabama in 2022
According to the company’s cotton report, the lingerie giant purchases anywhere from 50,000 to 65,000 cotton bales yearly. Thirteen percent of its cotton in 2022 was purchased from Alabama farmers, and the company expects to double that number this year. Victoria’s Secret first visited the Alabama cotton farmers in July of 2021.
Three other North Alabama cotton farms–Martin Farm in Courtland, Spruell Farms in Mount Hope and Blythe Cotton Co. in Town Creek–also source cotton to Victoria’s Secret, and these farms are women owned and operated. In the U.S., about 3% of farms are owned and operated by women and less than 1% are Black owned and operated.
Alabama A&M + VS&Co. introduce new scholarships
The relationship between Victoria’s Secret and Alabama A&M doesn’t stop at cotton.
Together, they’ve created a three-year scholarship program and three-year internship program for students at Alabama A&M and Tuskegee University. These hands-on experiences are a $150,000 investment into agricultural students.
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