WATERVILLE -- Maine potato producers are teaming up with marketing experts this year to get the word out to Maine consumers that buying local is buying better.

The "Get Real, Get Maine" campaign was promoted Thursday morning at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Waterville Commons, where Maine Commissioner of Agriculture Seth Bradstreet III said local produce is a superior product because it is fresh.

"It's a great opportunity today -- the idea is to bring consumer awareness to the 'Get Real, Get Maine' logo, which means it's a local product with a local retailer," Bradstreet said. "It's an awareness to local communities where their products come from.

"That trademark will bring prominence to the market wherever they are."

Officials on hand Thursday said Hannaford Bros. stores and Stop 'n Shop supermarkets, along with other grocery store chains, support Maine industry by buying Maine potatoes.

On the processing side, all of the McDonald's restaurants in Maine use Maine potatoes exclusively for their french fries.

Right now, Bradstreet said, the percentage of local produce sold to local consumers in major supermarkets is low, but that is about to change.

In its launch Thursday, the Maine Potato Board -- together with Wal-Mart stores and the Bushwick Commission Co., a company that helps Maine farmers market their potatoes -- promised to bring the freshest "table stock" potatoes home to Maine kitchens.

And the campaign does not stop with potatoes, Bradstreet said. It also will include Backyard Beauty tomatoes from Madison, Delicious apples grown in Maine and locally produced milk.

Purchasing food grown locally also makes economic sense, state agriculture officials said.

"It keeps your money working in the local community," said Jane Aiudi, director of marketing and production development at the food and rural resources division of the Department of Agriculture. "It helps preserve Maine farms because the surest means of farmland preservation is to have profitable farms."

Aiudi said all the grocery store chains in Maine participate in the campaign.

Bradstreet said that when given the choice, Maine consumers prefer local products over products from away.

"One of the biggest challenges for consumers devoted to buying local foods is determining which foods are grown locally," he said. "Finding products with the familiar 'Get Real, Get Maine' logo ensures consumers they are purchasing products grown in Maine."

Tim Hobbs of the Maine Potato Board said the group represents all 400 growers, dealers and processors of Maine potatoes in the state.

"We grow roughly 60,000 acres of potatoes a year," Hobbs said. "Between 10 and 15 percent of that goes to the fresh market -- most of the fresh potatoes go out of state."

He said Maine farmers produce 18 million hundred-weight of potatoes every year.

"The push obviously comes from the consumer, and if you talk to people in Maine, they want to buy Maine products in a Maine store," Hobbs said. "Wal-Mart wants to be able to supply their consumer -- which is our consumer -- what they want; they want to be able to supply local product to people who live in the state."

Don Flannery of the Maine Potato Board said the current campaign will show consumers the quality of Maine-grown produce.

"We're promoting the state of Maine and we're proud to offer some of the best potatoes in the country to an audience that has come to expect high quality and fair prices," he said.

Also on Thursday, Brunswick Commission Co. and the Maine Potato Board announced a donation of $2,500 to Children's Miracle Network.

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com