education

by

UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference May 17-18 in Sitka

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Monday and Tuesday, May 17-18. This is a two-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Palmer, Juneau, Glennallen, Valdez, and Sitka, plus other locations that may arrange for the class.

A certified food protection manager (CFPM) is responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations to ensure that the facility is operating in compliance with food establishment regulations.

A CFPM is knowledgeable about food safety practices and uses this knowledge to provide consumers with safe food, protect public health and prevent food-borne illnesses. Alaska regulations require food establishments to have at least one CFPM on staff.

This course takes place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and participants will take a computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time for the class. The cost is $200, and the course will be taught by Julie Cascio of Palmer. Students can register here, and the registration deadline is Friday, April 30.

The Sitka videoconference for the class will take place in a room TBA at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. To learn more, contact Jasmine Shaw at the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440, or contact Julie Cascio at (907) 745-3677 (Palmer number) or jmcascio@alaska.edu. Note, this class is taught in English but textbooks are available in Korean, Chinese and Spanish, just contact Julie at least three weeks before the class.

Also, the ServSafe book ($70) and certification exam ($85) now are available online, if people want to order the book and study independently without taking the class. Just go to this website and purchase the book and exam items.

by

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: Sitka Kitch to host fundraiser featuring a take-out vegetarian Indian food dinner from Beak Restaurant

Join us for a special fundraising take-out dinner for the Sitka Kitch, where people pick up their food any time from 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4, at Beak Restaurant to take home.

This event will feature a variety of take-out vegetarian Indian dishes cooked by Beak chef/owner Renée Jakaitis Trafton and her crew.

Renée’s planned menu includes:

  • Coconut Tumeric Chickpea Curry / Tender chickpeas simmered in a rich coconut broth with carrot, potato, kale
  • Chai Spiced Red Lentil Daal / Red lentils with chai spices- ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, black pepper, bay leaf
  • Spiced Basmati Rice / Cinnamon, cardamom, clove
  • Samosa / Crispy spiced potato and green pea mix in dough
  • Tamarind Dipping Sauce
  • Naan
  • House-Made Chai / Ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, bay leaf

The cost is $50 per person, and the registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 2. All proceeds benefit the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, which provides cooking and food preservation classes to Sitka residents. It also provides kitchen rentals on a limited basis for food businesses.

Please let us know if there are other people from your household participating so we can group your food when we package it for pick-up.

You can reserve your spot at this event with PayPal or a credit/debit card by going to our online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, and clicking on the event title and following the instructions from there. If you prefer to use cash or check to reserve your spot, please call Chandler or Clarice at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) or email chandler@sitkawild.org.

Also, since this is a fundraiser, if you want to donate to help us continue to provide cooking and food preservation classes and occasionally serve as a maker-space for local food businesses, click this link to donate through PayPal, https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=5XLWYLLKETNT6. You also can use this link if you want to support the Sitka Kitch, but aren’t able to participate in the dinner.

by

The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 30th year

For 30 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year, with the coronavirus affecting shows, the Garden Show will have a regular 9:30-10 a.m. slot on Fridays, starting on Friday, April 9. Kitty has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and sometimes in the past the half-hour Garden Shows took place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. The station’s website has links to previous shows.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 30 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

by

Sitka Kitch to host Cooking With Culture: Using Farmers To Families Food Boxes With Nalani James class April 16 (RESCHEDULED TO MAY 21)

(NOTE, Due to a family emergency, this event was postponed and now is rescheduled. Details below.)

Are you one in one of the roughly 1,400 families who have been getting a Farmers To Families food box each week in Sitka? Are you looking for inspiration on how to use some of the food items in each box?

Nalani James will teach a free, virtual Sitka Kitch class, Cooking With Culture: Using Farmers To Families Food Boxes class from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, April 16, using Zoom. Thanks to a partnership with Sitka Moose Lodge No. 1350, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen will offer this class for free. Even though the class is free, we need people to register by late Tuesday night, April 13, so we can send out the Zoom link and ingredient list. Since this is a free class and we have limited space, we encourage families to register under one registration spot and share the screen.

(NOTE: This class has been rescheduled for 5-7 p.m. on Friday, May 21, and there are a limited number of new spots available in the class. The new registration deadline is Tuesday night, May 18. People who registered for the original class are registered for the rescheduled date.)

The menu for this class hasn’t been set, since the list of items in the Farmers To Families food boxes changes from month to month. The menu will be tailored to the box contents for April, once we know what they are. In recent months the boxes have contained potatoes, apples, onions, baby carrots or cabbage, milk, yogurt (plain or flavored), sour cream, hot dogs (or canned salmon), and smoked chicken leg quarters. (UPDATE: The menu will be chicken with fun sides using carrots, onions, potatoes, plus beer-battered onion rings with a non-alcoholic version available.)

Nalani is somewhat new to Sitka, having moved here about two years ago. She occasionally had a baked goods booth at the 2019 Sitka Farmers Markets, and she became market co-manager in 2020. In March, she was one of the winners of the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest with her egg business, Eggstravagant. Nalani loves to have ethnic foods from the regional area and works to simulate the flavors and textures of the dish. She has been cooking elaborate dishes at the age of 10 with the free will of her parents, and loves being a cooking chemist.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. You can register on the Sitka Kitch EventSmart online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title).

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440.

by

Check out the April 2021 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the winners of the 2021 Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, the PFD application deadline on Wednesday night and how people can donate through the Pick.Click.Give. charitable giving program when they file for their PFDs, an update on plans for the 2021 Sitka Farmers Market, an invitation to join our board of directors, and information about our 2021 sponsorship program. 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 Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

by

Check out the March 2021 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the March 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the 2021 Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, the Pick.Click.Give. charitable giving program being active for when people file for their PFDs, an invitation to join our board of directors, and information about our 2021 sponsorship program. 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 Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

by

Alaskans Own community-supported seafood program opens 2021 membership sales

Alaskans Own is excited to announce that seafood lovers throughout Alaska and Seattle can now sign up for 2021 monthly seafood shares, while seeing their share payments going toward Alaska seafood donations and fishery conservation work.

This year marks the 12th year that Alaskans Own will deliver monthly shares of wild Alaska seafood directly to consumers through its Community Supported Fishery. Based on the widespread Community Supported Agriculture (aka, CSA) model, CSFs are a way for people to buy a “share” of seafood before the fishing season, giving fishermen some certainty that they have a market before they head out to the fishing grounds. Founded in 2009 by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), Alaskans Own is Alaska’s first and oldest Community Supported Fishery and offers monthly seafood shares subscriptions in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Sitka, Juneau, and Seattle. 

In 2021, all profits from Alaskans Own seafood sales will go towards ALFA’s Fishery Conservation Network and Seafood Donation Program. The Seafood Donation Program was created in 2020 in response to COVID-19 and the rise in demand for food assistance throughout Alaska and the greater Pacific Northwest region. Thanks to funding from Catch Together, Multiplier, The Alaska Community Foundation and affiliate The Sitka Legacy Foundation, First Bank Alaska, Sealaska, Sitka Rotary Club, and a host of individual and business donors, ALFA was able to help deliver more than 600,000 donated seafood meals to more than 100,000 families in 2020. Given the Seafood Donation Program’s success and continued food insecurity amongst thousands of Alaska households, ALFA is hoping to expand the Seafood Donation Program and use Alaskans Own’s monthly seafood shares sales as a way to help sustain it.

“As a Community Supported Fishery, community is at the heart of who we are and everything we do at Alaskans Own. Our top priority is to take care of our community, whether that’s by paying local fishermen a good price for their catch, providing our customers with premium quality fish, or ensuring that all Alaskans can have access to nutritious, wild seafood,” said Natalie Sattler, Alaskans Own program director. “When someone signs up for our monthly seafood share, they’re not only taking care of their family’s health, but they’re also directly supporting conservation of Alaska’s fisheries and seafood donations for families in need.”

New this year will be the option for Alaskans Own customers to choose from a selection of monthly seafood shares, including a seafood variety share, salmon lovers share, and white fish share. All monthly seafood share options feature hook-and-line caught wild Alaska seafood harvested by Southeast Alaska’s troll and longline fishermen.

“The challenges that we all experienced in 2020 really reinforced for us at Alaskans Own that we want to do more than just deliver high quality seafood. We want our fish to do good for the greater good. We’re so grateful for our customers who believe in our mission and invest in it every time they buy seafood from Alaskans Own,” said Linda Behnken, Alaskans Own founder, commercial fisherman, and ALFA executive director. 

To learn more about Alaskans Own’s monthly seafood shares and other seafood products, visit www.alaskansown.com. 

Alaskans Own is a non-profit, community supported fisheries program. Joining Alaskans Own is about a lot more than buying great fish. It’s an investment in the health of both fish and fisherman, in a cleaner environment, more vibrant local economies and a better future for Alaska. Learn more about our Fishery Conservation Network at alfafish.org. You can follow the the Alaskans Own program on Facebook and on Instagram.

by

Sitka Kitch to offer Cooking With Nalani James: Salmon Croquettes class March 19 using Zoom

Looking for a way to use up some leftover salmon? Do you have a lot of salmon meat scrapings that didn’t make it into the filets? The Sitka Kitch will host a virtual Cooking  With Nalani James: Salmon Croquettes class from 5:30-7 p.m. on Friday, March 19, using Zoom (NOTE, this is a date change from the original post).

Croquettes originated in France in about 1898 by the founder of classical French cuisine, Escoffier. They were originally made of beef, leftovers that needed to be used up. We will include an Alaska twist by using ground salmon for this recipe, with a couple of sides to make it a full meal.

Nalani is somewhat new to Sitka, having moved here about two years ago. She occasionally had a baked goods booth at the 2019 Sitka Farmers Markets, and she became market co-manager in 2020. She loves to have ethnic foods from the regional area and works to simulate the flavors and textures of the dish. She has been cooking elaborate dishes at the age of 10 with the free will of her parents, and loves being a cooking chemist.

The class cost is $30 for each household, with ground salmon provided as a fundraiser for the Sitka Mutual Aid program. If you provide your own salmon, the cost is $20 and families are encouraged to participate together. Other ingredients are not provided; however a list of ingredients and equipment needed will be sent to all who are registered. A link to the Zoom event also will be sent at that time.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-op are now able to attend the online classes for $10 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee, and in this case no salmon will be provided). Please use the Sitka Food Co-op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on the Sitka Kitch EventSmart online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We occasionally offer scholarship spot(s) per class for people with limited incomes, provided we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $15). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

by

UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference March 8 in Sitka

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Monday, March 8. This is an all-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Palmer, Juneau, Glennallen, Valdez, and Sitka, plus other locations that may arrange for the class.

A certified food protection manager (CFPM) is responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations to ensure that the facility is operating in compliance with food establishment regulations.

A CFPM is knowledgeable about food safety practices and uses this knowledge to provide consumers with safe food, protect public health and prevent food-borne illnesses. Alaska regulations require food establishments to have at least one CFPM on staff.

This course takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a half-hour lunch), and participants will take a computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time for the class. The cost is $200, and the course will be taught by Julie Cascio of Palmer. Students can register here, and the registration deadline is Sunday, Feb. 21.

The Sitka videoconference for the class will take place in a room TBA at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. To learn more, contact Jasmine Shaw at the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440, or contact Julie Cascio at (907) 745-3677 (Palmer number) or jmcascio@alaska.edu. Note, this class is taught in English but textbooks are available in Korean, Chinese and Spanish, just contact Julie at least three weeks before the class.

Also, the ServSafe book ($70) and certification exam ($85) now are available online, if people want to order the book and study independently without taking the class. Just go to this website and purchase the book and exam items.

by

Eating Alaska by Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein to be shown online during Alaska Food Security Week

What happens when a vegetarian from New York moves to rural Alaska and marries a commercial fisherman? Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein explored this and other food security issues in her 2008 film, Eating Alaska.

Feb. 7-13, 2021, is Alaska Food Security Week and Eating Alaska will be shown in a free online screening from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11, using Zoom. After the movie, there will be a short panel session about how Alaska’s food security has changed over the past decade with Ellen Frankenstein, and Rep. Geran Tarr (D-Anchorage), Rep. George Rauscher (R-Sutton), and Rep. Mike Cronk (R-Tok).

This event is co-sponsored by the Alaska Farmland Trust, Alaska Farm Bureau and Alaska Farmers Market Association, in collaboration with the Alaska Food Coalition, the Alaska Food Policy Council, and the Food Bank of Alaska.

Eating Alaska is a serious and humorous film about connecting to where you live and eating locally. Made by a former city dweller now living on an island in Alaska and married to fisherman, deer hunter and environmental activist, it is a journey into food politics, regional food traditions, our connection to the wilderness and to what we put into our mouths.

In her quest for the “right thing” to eat, Ellen stops by a farmers market in the Lower 48 stocked with fresh local fruits and vegetables and then heads back to Alaska, climbing mountains with women hunters, fishing for wild salmon and communing with vegans. She visits a grocery store with kids to study labels and heads to the Arctic to talk with Iñupiat teens in a home economics class, making pretzels while they describe their favorite traditional foods from moose meat to whale blubber.

The postcard like scenery in Alaska may be a contrast to what most urban residents see everyday and the filmmaker may have gone into the wild, but she also finds farmed salmon, toxics getting into wild foods and the colonization of the indigenous diet.

Eating Alaska doesn’t preach or give answers, but points out dilemmas in a style that provokes discussion on questions such as:

• What is the ethical way to eat in Alaska-or anywhere?

• Is it better to shoot a deer than buy tofu that has been shipped thousands of miles?

• Where is your comfort level in taking a life for food?

This wry personal look at what’s on your plate explores ideas about eating healthy, safe and sustainable food from one’s own backyard, either urban or wild, versus industrially produced food shipped thousands of miles. Eating Alaska is also a thought-provoking resource for discussing our assumptions about gendered behavior and women’s relationship to the natural world.