Month: March 2018

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Check out the April 2018 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2018 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter has short articles that include the announcement of spring gardening classes, a deadline reminder about the Pick.Click.Give. donation program, an update on the deadline for our new Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, information about our sponsorship program, and an invitation to join our board of directors. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our new Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

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Sitka Local Foods Network education committee announces its 2018 spring garden classes

Want to learn how to grow your own food? Are you new to Sitka and want to learn what veggies grow in our town? The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee has a list of free 2018 spring garden classes that can help you learn what to do and when to do it so you have a healthy garden.

This spring, most of our classes will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursdays at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street). Each week will feature a different topic, and all classes are free (donations to the Sitka Local Foods Network will be accepted). The class schedule is as follows:

  • Starting A Cottage Foods Business — Saturday, April 14, 1-3 p.m., Sitka Kitch (505 SMC), taught by Sarah Lewis, in partnership with UAF Cooperative Extension Service and Sitka Kitch, $10 class fee (half-off first market date vendor fee at Sitka Farmers Market, pre-register online at http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title).
  • Gardening in Sitka 101 — April 19, taught by Michelle Putz and Jennifer Carter.
  • Greenhouse Gardening — April 26, 6-7:30 p.m., taught by Andrea Fraga.
  • Growing Potatoes in Sitka — May 3, taught by Kathy Kyle.
  • Container Gardening — May 10, taught by Charles Bingham.

For more information about the classes, contact Charles Bingham at 623-7660 or charleswbingham3@gmail.com. Other classes may be added at a later date if we find volunteers to teach them. If you are a Sitka gardener who wants to teach a class, contact Charles at the info above.

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Sitka Kitch offers Herring Appreciation With Renée Trafton class April 3 as part of Seasonal Cooking series

Renée Jakaitis Trafton, the chef-owner of the Beak Restaurant, will teach the fifth class in the Sitka Kitch‘s new class series, Seasonal Cooking, from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. The class is called Herring Appreciation With Renée Trafton.

Renée will teach students how to make a herring egg salad and sushi. Due to the vagaries of the seasons in Sitka, this class will be moved to April 10 if the herring are running late (students will be notified and refunds will be available for students who can’t make the later date).

The next classes in the Seasonal Cooking class series are:

  • National Nutrition Month Healthy Cooking Demonstration — 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday, March 27, Free event with SEARHC health educator Heleena Van Veen, health educator Holly Marban, registered dietitian Jessica Holland and diabetes nurse Kelly Lakin. This year’s National Nutrition Month theme is “Go Further With Food,” so students will learn creative ways to use leftovers and how to store food so it doesn’t spoil.
  • Herring Appreciation With Renee Trafton (Beak Restaurant) — 6-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 3 (alternate date is April 10 if herring running late), Celebrate the return of herring to Sitka by making herring egg salad and sushi.
  • Naturally Clean Home Products — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 7, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. This class will teach you how to reduce your use of harsh, chemical cleaners but still be able to do deep cleaning. Students need to bring five 32-ounce spray bottles and a 20-ounce jar with lid (or six quart canning jars to store products to take home and then transfer to spray bottles). Class fee is $20, no supply fee.
  • Starting A Cottage Foods Business — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 14, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Learn about state laws regarding home food businesses, and get ideas for businesses you might take to the Sitka Farmers Market or local trade shows. Tours of the Sitka Kitch and rental information will be available. Class fee is $10, no supply fee. The Sitka Local Foods Network offers class participants half-off the registration fee for their first Sitka Farmers Market in 2018.
  • Puerto Rican Cooking With Nina Vizcarrondo — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, Learn how to cook sofrito with recao, empanadas or pastelon, and arroz con gandules from Nina, a former U.S. Coast Guard chef and the current Sitka Farmers Market manager.

Class space is limited, so register early. This class costs $27.50 per person, plus a food/supply fee split between the registered students. The Herring Appreciation class registration deadline is 11 p.m. on Saturday, March 31.

You can register online and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal at https://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on the class title to register). To pre-pay by cash or check, contact Chandler, Claire, or Clarice at 747-7509 to arrange payment. For more information about the class series, contact Jasmine at 747-9440.

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SEARHC to host National Nutrition Month food demonstration March 27 at Sitka Kitch

Learn how to “Go Further With Food,” as registered dietitians and health educators from the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) offer a free National Nutrition Month food demonstration from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This event is part of the Seasonal Cooking class series offered at the Sitka Kitch this spring.

SEARHC health educator Heleena Van Veen, health educator Holly Marban, registered dietitian Jessica Holland and diabetes nurse Kelly Lakin will lead this demonstration. Topics include which grocery staples people should buy for their kitchens, how to prevent food waste, how to make a variety of meals using grocery staples and subsistence food, and how to use leftovers to fertilize your garden.

Since this event is free, there is no online registration page. For more details, contact Heleena Van Veen at 966-8914 or heleenav@searhc.org.

After this event, the next Seasonal Cooking classes include:

  • Herring Appreciation With Renee Trafton (Beak Restaurant) — 6-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 3 (alternate date is April 10 if herring running late), Celebrate the return of herring to Sitka by making herring egg salad and sushi.
  • Naturally Clean Home Products — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 7, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. This class will teach you how to reduce your use of harsh, chemical cleaners but still be able to do deep cleaning. Students need to bring five 32-ounce spray bottles and a 20-ounce jar with lid (or six quart canning jars to store products to take home and then transfer to spray bottles). Class fee is $20, no supply fee.
  • Starting A Cottage Foods Business — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 14, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Learn about state laws regarding home food businesses, and get ideas for businesses you might take to the Sitka Farmers Market or local trade shows. Tours of the Sitka Kitch and rental information will be available. Class fee is $10, no supply fee. The Sitka Local Foods Network offers class participants half-off the registration fee for their first Sitka Farmers Market in 2018.
  • Puerto Rican Cooking With Nina Vizcarrondo — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, Learn how to cook sofrito with recao, empanadas or pastelon, and arroz con gandules from Nina, a former U.S. Coast Guard chef and the current Sitka Farmers Market manager.

Class space is limited, so register early. Unless noted, the Seasonal Cooking classes cost $27.50 per person, plus a food/supply fee split between the registered students.

Register online at https://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com/ (click on class title) and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal. To pre-pay by cash or check, contact Chandler, Claire, or Clarice at 747-7509 to arrange payment. For more information about the class series, contact Jasmine at 747-9440.

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Sitka Food Co-op to host annual meeting and potluck on Sunday, March 11

The sixth annual Sitka Food Co-op annual meeting and potluck dinner will be from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, at the Sitka Fire Hall Conference Room. This meeting is free and open to the public, so please bring a dish to share (what’s a food co-op meeting without food?). You can RSVP for the meeting by clicking this link.

General Manager Keith Nyitray will go over all the operations and financials of this past year and the board will review the results from our recent survey and talk about future needs and plans for the co-op. We will also vote on a by-law changes and where to send the “Co-op Cares” donations.

We also are looking for board members. Currently, we are just an interim board with some of us hoping to get officially elected in. The terms will last one or two years so that we can stagger terms out for board continuity. The co-op needs an active board to handle all the things a general manager can not, or should not, handle.

If you’re interested in joining the board, let us know by filling out the board application form.

We can’t wait to see you all on March 11 and, together, we’ll eat some yummy food and help the co-op continue thriving

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Check out the March 2018 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the March 2018 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter has short articles that include a reminder about the Pick.Click.Give. donation program, our new Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, a request for volunteer gardening instructors this spring, information about our sponsorship program, and an invitation to join our board of directors. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our new Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

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Scenes from the third Seasonal Cooking class: Pakistani Cooking With Shanzila Ahmed at the Sitka Kitch

Students learned how to make a classic Pakistani dish called biryani during the Pakistani Cooking With Shanzila Ahmed class on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the third class of the Seasonal Cooking class series at the Sitka Kitch.

Shanzila (pronounced SHAN-zi-la) is an AFS exchange student from Pakistan. She taught students how to make biryani, which features chicken, rice, veggies, and a lot of different spices, as well as a chutney and salad to go with it.

The next classes in the Seasonal Cooking series are:

  • National Nutrition Month Healthy Cooking Demonstration — 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday, March 27, Free event with SEARHC health educator Heleena Van Veen, health educator Holly Marban, registered dietitian Jessica Holland and diabetes nurse Kelly Lakin. This year’s National Nutrition Month theme is “Go Further With Food,” so students will learn creative ways to use leftovers and how to store food so it doesn’t spoil.
  • Herring Appreciation With Renee Trafton (Beak Restaurant) — 6-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 3 (alternate date is April 10 if herring running late), Celebrate the return of herring to Sitka by making herring egg salad and sushi.
  • Naturally Clean Home Products — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 7, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. This class will teach you how to reduce your use of harsh, chemical cleaners but still be able to do deep cleaning. Students need to bring five 32-ounce spray bottles and a 20-ounce jar with lid (or six quart canning jars to store products to take home and then transfer to spray bottles). Class fee is $20, no supply fee.
  • Starting A Cottage Foods Business — 1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 14, Videoconference with Sarah Lewis of Juneau office of UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Learn about state laws regarding home food businesses, and get ideas for businesses you might take to the Sitka Farmers Market or local trade shows. Tours of the Sitka Kitch and rental information will be available. Class fee is $10, no supply fee. The Sitka Local Foods Network offers class participants half-off the registration fee for their first Sitka Farmers Market in 2018.
  • Puerto Rican Cooking With Nina Vizcarrondo — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, Learn how to cook sofrito with recao, empanadas or pastelon, and arroz con gandules from Nina, a former U.S. Coast Guard chef and the current Sitka Farmers Market manager.

Class space is limited, so register early. Unless noted, the Seasonal Cooking classes cost $27.50 per person, plus a food/supply fee split between the registered students.

Register online at https://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com/ (click on class title) and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal. To pre-pay by cash or check, contact Chandler, Claire, or Clarice at 747-7509 to arrange payment. For more information about the class series, contact Jasmine at 747-9440.

A slideshow of scenes from the Pakistani Cooking class is posted below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Like what we do? Please join our board of directors or volunteer with us

The 2017 Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener. Back row, from left, Tiffany Justice (treasurer), Ben Timby (secretary), Sam Pointer (director) and Charles Bingham (president/communications director). Front row, from left, Nina Vizcarrondo (co-secretary/farmers market manager), Laura Schmidt (lead gardener), Jennifer Carter (vice president).

Are you enjoying the fresh local veggies at the Sitka Farmers Market this summer? Did you take any of our garden education classes this spring? Are you concerned about increasing access to local food for all Sitka residents?

Please consider joining the board of directors for the Sitka Local Foods Network to help us pursue our mission to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. We need more board members in order to keep running our programs.

Board members help direct the Sitka Local Foods Network, a non-profit that promotes the harvest and use of local food in Sitka. In addition to setting the focus of the group during our monthly meetings, board members also serve on at least one committee supporting at our three main projects of the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and garden education and mentoring. We also hope to help with the Sitka Community Gardens project as we look for a new location now that Blatchley Community Garden has been closed. In addition, some board members have supported other local foods projects in Sitka, such as the Sitka Kitch, Let’s Grow Sitka, the Sick-A-Waste compost project, the Sitka Community Food Assessment project, Sitka Fish-To-Schools, other school education projects and more.

To apply for a spot on the board, please fill out the application linked below and submit it to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.org. For more information, please email us. Please note this is a working board, and our group is evolving and maturing as we try to raise funds to hire staff. Board terms are for three years, with three seats up for reapplication each winter.

We also are looking to increase our pool of volunteers who will help out during the various projects hosted by the network each year (no formal application needed, just send us your name/contact info and what types of projects you enjoy). We need volunteers to help with the upcoming Sitka Farmers Market, helping our lead gardener at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and helping us teach gardening classes or working with our garden mentor program families.

The next regular Sitka Local Foods Network board meeting is from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18, at the Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) office, 504 Lake Street, Suite C (NOTE: The meeting date was changed from April 11 due to the illness of a couple of our board members). The board usually meets once every 4-6 weeks. Please note, we will sometimes move our meetings to avoid conflicts with board member schedules, venue schedules and to insure a quorum. All of our board meetings are open to the public.

Click here for a copy of the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors job description. Click here for a copy of the board application.