education

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Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Pacific High School win National Volunteers and Service Award

Due to COVID-19 social-distancing requirements, Michelle Putz of the USDA Forest Service Sitka Ranger District planted Tlingít potatoes by herself in April 2020.

Tlingít potatoes

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) and the Pacific High School gardening class (PHS) were recognized at the Sitka Tribal Council’s Zoom meeting on August 19, 2020, for being two of seven recipients of the USDA Forest Service’s 2019 National Volunteers and Service Award. The award was earned through their collaboration with the Tongass National Forest’s Sitka Ranger District to build awareness about a traditional food source, the Tlingít potato, also known as Maria’s potato.

Sitka District Ranger Perry Edwards and Regional Forester David Schmid, and others, will present a plaque and a letter signed by USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen.

“These award winners really demonstrate and put into action our agency core values of service, of conservation, diversity, of safety and our interdependence,” said Chief Christiansen, during the award announcement video on June 19, 2020. “As Forest Service employees we understand that relationships with people and communities are absolutely essential in achieving our mission. Thank you so much and congratulations for your outstanding contributions in helping us achieve our important conservation mission.”

Community members plant Tlingít potatoes in April 2019 as part of an Earth Day celebration.

Seventy-three nominations were submitted for this year’s awards, the highest number of nominations to the annual awards program in the past 10 years. Nominees exemplified the Forest Service’s core values of service, conservation, diversity, interdependence and safety.

Edwards believes the project and partnership has strengthened relationships with the Sitka Tribe and local schools, giving much of the credit for its success to tribal and school leadership.

“Tammy Young from the Sitka Tribe has been an incredible force behind this project, as have several teachers and the principal at Pacific High School,” said Edwards. “It has connected the Tribe, Sitka’s Pacific High School and the Forest Service in shared stewardship of a traditional resource.”

“Sitka Tribe of Alaska is so pleased that our District Ranger office chose some five years ago to begin this project working with our Tribal citizens on revitalizing the cultivation of our tried and true crop, the Tlingit potato,” said Kathy Hope Erickson, tribal chairman for Sitka Tribe of Alaska. “There have been local people throughout the years continuing this tradition of native horticulture, but the extra effort and outreach by the collaborators has breathed new life into this practice. For this we are grateful to our partners. We wish too, to thank the Forest Service for recognizing that the ‘forest’ includes not just trees, but all creatures in and around it, the flora and fauna who are interdependent on it and each other for a complete existence.”

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Tenth annual Fish To Schools coho donation drive has a new partner

Sitka commercial troller Eric Jordan discusses the fishing industry with local students during a Fish To Schools have lunch with a fisherman event (photo courtesy Sitka Conservation Society)

(The following was submitted as a letter to the editor that ran in the Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Sitka’s Fish to Schools program is celebrating a decade of bringing locally caught seafood lunches into all of Sitka’s schools. While the program typically relies solely on donations from local fishermen, Sitka Producers Cooperative (SPC) and Sitka Sounds Seafoods, (SSS) this year the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) will also be purchasing fish. We’re grateful that ALFA’s investment in food security will ensure that Sitka’s kids have access to nourishing foods, while circulating money in the local economy and taking pressure off of fishermen during a challenging summer.

The coho donation drive will operate as usual from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, and all contributions are welcome and appreciated. Sitka’s fishermen are the heart and soul of the Fish to Schools program and this program wouldn’t exist without their generosity and dedication to feeding the next generation of ocean stewards.

Linda Behnken, Executive Director of ALFA, said on the program, “Sitka fishermen and local processors SPC and Sitka Sound Seafoods have long supported Fish to Schools and have donated generously over the years. ALFA/ASFT (Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust) are grateful to be in a position this year to support the purchase of seafood for schools to take the pressure off Sitka fishermen and processors who are reeling from the impacts of COVID-19.“

Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School student Naomi Capp, age 9, talks with fisherman Steve Lawrie Wednesday (April 25, 2018) during lunch at the school. The elementary school was hosting fishermen who donated part of their catch to the Fish to Schools program. The program is managed by the Sitka Conservation Society and provides fish dishes as part of the lunch programs at Baranof Elementary School, Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, Blatchley Middle School, Sitka High School, Pacific High School, the SEER School, and Mount Edgecumbe High School. (Daily Sitka Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The Sitka Fish to Schools program brings locally caught seafood lunches and salmon-focused classroom curricula into schools. The mission of this program is to deepen youth understanding of local seafood resources and teach children that salmon require respect in both harvest and habitat. Fish to Schools lays the groundwork for Sitka’s youth to discover how the commercial fishing industry operates and inspires students to support or become involved in one of Southeast Alaska’s most important economic sectors. Having access to local seafood reminds us how lucky we are to be Alaskans!

“Ten years of Fish to Schools in Sitka has flown by. The best part of being involved in this program is witnessing how many community members care about our local kids and want to help this program succeed. To me, Fish to Schools really exemplifies how wonderful our community is,” longtime program supporter Lexi Fish said. She continued, “my daughter was a kindergartener last year and loved eating the school lunch on Wednesdays — salmon burgers were her favorite.”

Since it became a community wellness project at the 2010 Sitka Health Summit, the Fish to Schools program has been a partner-rich endeavor. Local processors including Sitka Sound Seafoods and the Seafood Producers Cooperative, the Sitka School District, Mount Edgecumbe High School, the SEER School, Head Start — and in particular the cafeteria teams at those facilities — along with community members Lexi Fish and Beth Short-Rhoads have all been key players in realizing this initiative from the ground up. We’re happy to expand this list this year to include ALFA. And of course, the program would not be possible without such strong support from the local fishermen who donate their catch to the program, nourishing students with the Omega-3s and other vitamins wild salmon provide.

To donate, tell scale operators how many fish you would like to donate as you offload at Seafood Producers Cooperative or Sitka Sound Seafoods. If fishermen have yelloweye rockfish overage, they are welcome to donate them to Fish to Schools as well. If you would like to donate to Fish to Schools, please contact Heather Bauscher of Sitka Conservation Society at heather@sitkawild.org or 747-7509 for more information.

Sincerely,

Sitka Conservation Society

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Check out the August 2020 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the August 2020 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes information about Aug. 2-8 being National Farmers Market Week and what’s happening at the Sitka Farmers Market, info about our new Sitka Local Foods Network tote bags, an update on a fundraiser and class from the Sitka Kitch, an invitation to join the SLFN board of directors, and a thank you to all of our 2020 sponsors. 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).

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Sitka Kitch fundraiser featuring a take-out vegetarian Indian food dinner from Beak Restaurant rescheduled for Aug. 19

Join us for a special fundraising take-out dinner for the Sitka Kitch, where people pick up their food any time from 4:30-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Beak Restaurant to take home. Then they will join us for an online event that starts at 7 p.m. This event originally was scheduled for March, but was rescheduled due to the pandemic.

This event will feature a variety of take-out vegetarian Indian dishes cooked by Beak chef/owner Renée Jakaitis Trafton and her crew. In addition to the dinner, there will be an online trivia contest, door prizes, and an online auction starting at 7 p.m. using Zoom (link will be provided to participants after they register).

Renée’s planned menu includes:

  • Samosas, filled with potato, peas, onion. Tamarind dipping sauce, mango or rhubarb chutney
  • Naan
  • Spiced basmati rice with cinnamon, cardamon, clove
  • Saag paneer, spinach, paneer
  • Red lentil daal
  • Chana masala, chickpeas
  • Rice pudding for dessert (not confirmed)
  • The meal comes with chai (tea).

The cost is $40 per person, and the registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8. 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.

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.

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Check out the July 2020 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2020 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes a short update on the 2020 Sitka Farmers Market, info about our new Sitka Local Foods Network tote bags, information about two upcoming Sitka Kitch classes, an invitation to join our board of directors, and a thank you to those businesses and individuals sponsoring us for 2020. 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).

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Sitka Kitch to offer two virtual classes with Sarah Lewis

Learn how to make sauerkraut and fermented pickles, and how to cook with canned and smoked salmon during two online classes with Sarah Lewis through the Sitka Kitch. The sauerkraut class takes place from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, and the salmon class is from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8, using Zoom online meetings (note, a class link will emailed to you after you register).

These online classes are the first hosted by the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen shut down in March due to the coronavirus/pandemic. Other online classes and an online fundraiser/Indian foods meal will be announced soon.

Class details are as follows (click class titles for registration links):

  • Making Sauerkraut and Fermented Pickles, 1-3 p.m. on Saturday July 25 — Sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other lacto-fermented vegetables can be easily made at home. In this class you will make sauerkraut and mixed vegetable pickles and you will learn techniques that can be easily used to make whatever probiotic pickles your heart (and gut) desires.
  • Cooking with Canned and Smoked Salmon, 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8 — Have you canned salmon and aren’t sure what to do with it now? Have you received generous gifts of canned salmon and want to know whether it’s safe or how to cook it up? Would you like to cook recipes with your smoked salmon? This is the class for you. In this hands-on, kitchen-based class you will learn how to make several tasty recipes with canned and smoked salmon. For all experience levels.

Sarah Lewis, UAF Cooperative Extension Service Agent for Southeast Alaska, is making recipes in her home kitchen and would love for you to join her. The goal of these workshops is for participants to interact with Sarah and each other while cooking together; asking questions, seeing what others are making, and actively learning new skills (or brushing up on existing ones). The workshops will be small (a max of 12 participants per class) and will not be recorded (so you can feel free to turn on your camera, and even stay in your PJs… Sarah’s Extension Kitchen is a judgment-free zone).

Before class, students will receive a delivery of the ingredients to Sitka residents (please submit your home address when you register), as well as a list of supplies and equipment to have on hand. These classes will be offered via Zoom. Registration closes the Thursday evening before the class.

The registration deadline for the sauerkraut class is 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, and the registration deadline for the salmon class is 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the classes. The classes cost $20, which is half of our usual class fee. This is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart 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.

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). 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.)

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.

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.

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host series of virtual home food preservation classes

Sarah Lewis of the Juneau District Office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a series of home food preservation classes over the next couple of months as part of its An Extension Kitchen program.

These classes cost $10 each and will be hosted using Zoom online meetings. The classes usually will take place on Saturday afternoons, and topics include canning everything from zucchini pickles to chili and turkey soup. You can register for the classes and see more detailed information about each class at https://bit.ly/extensionkitchenclasses.

The class schedule is as follows:

For more information, please contact Sarah at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu or Susie at susie.wilkie@alaska.edu.
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Twelve sustainable Southeast Alaska businesses vie to win two $25,000 prizes in Path to Prosperity contest

Angela Ketah, back left, and family of Sitka Flowers & The Chocolate Moose, which makes and sells its own handmade chocolates in Sitka

The Path to Prosperity sustainable business development competition has selected this year’s cohort of 12 businesses (including three from Sitka) to advance to the second round of the competition. Started by Sealaska and The Nature Conservancy in 2013 and run by Spruce Root, Path to Prosperity is an award-winning competition for small businesses and start-ups located in Southeast Alaska. As usual, several of the finalists are businesses centered around the use of local foods.

In Round 2 of the competition, finalists will participate in Path to Prosperity’s innovative Business Boot Camp where they will get access to resources, work with mentors, and receive one-on-one consulting to develop their business models and plans. In February 2021, two finalists will be selected to win $25,000 each to grow their businesses. The following 12 businesses were selected as this year’s finalists:

  • Business Name, Primary Applicant, Location
  • Alaska Today, Allen Bird, Ketchikan
  • Caffeinated Raven, Alison Bremner (Marks), Juneau
  • Coastal Heating and Repair, James Jensen, Yakutat
  • Equinox, Cameo Padilla, Sitka
  • Gastineau Grains, Kate Higgins, Juneau
  • Integrative Mushroom Solutions, Uyanga “Angie” Mendbayar, Juneau
  • Jellyfish Donuts, Brianna Krantz, Ketchikan
  • Kaasei Training and Consulting, Naomi Michalsen, Ketchikan
  • Sitka Flowers & The Chocolate Moose, Angela Ketah, Sitka
  • TIDES Education Associates (no website), Nancy Douglas, Sitka
  • Well-Being, Adrianna Oliva, Ketchikan
  • Xíinaansdla, Marita Tolson, Hydaburg

From offering Haida cultural immersion in a traditional longhouse, to creating tasty snacks from spent grain, to incorporating culture-based learning into Alaska’s school systems, the 2020 Path to Prosperity finalists are defining Southeast Alaska’s local products and services, creating jobs, and driving local, sustainable, economic growth.

Nancy Douglas of TIDES Education Associates (TIDES stands for Teaching with Indigenous Design for Every Student)

Shgen George of TIDES Education Associates, a new business just getting started

“Path to Prosperity accelerates the growth of small businesses throughout the region by bringing businesses together to network, work with experts, and write their business plans,” says program administrator Ashley Snookes. A total of 18 entrepreneurs from six communities applied to Path to Prosperity in 2020. “Businesses have been hard-hit this year, and we want to do everything we can to help them, our communities, and our region thrive.”

One of the unique opportunities in Path to Prosperity this year is the program’s focus on minority-led businesses. “Southeast Alaska is a diverse region, and we hope the program will be especially beneficial to Alaska Natives and other minority communities this year,” says Snookes. The 2020 program is sponsored largely by the Minority Business Development Agency, which defines minority-led businesses as United States citizens who are Asian, Black, Hispanic, Hasidic Jews, Native American, and Pacific Islanders. Ownership by minority individuals means the business is at least 51% owned by such individuals.

The M/V Equinox, a charter tour company owned by Cameo Padilla

Over the past eight years, Path to Prosperity has received more than 260 applications from Southeast Alaskan small business owners and entrepreneurs across 22 communities. The program has trained 89 finalists at Business Boot Camp and awarded 15 winners $510,000 to build their local businesses. All of the participants have been trained in the “triple-bottom-line” approach to building a business by learning to measure their profitability as well as the environmental and social impacts of their business. Competition winners include Skyaana Coffee Co. (Klawock), Barnacle Foods (Juneau), Foundroot (Haines), Village Coffee Company (Yakutat), Icy Straits Lumber (Hoonah), and more.

Path to Prosperity is a Spruce Root program. Spruce Root provides local entrepreneurs with access to business development and financial resources in the form of loan capital, business coaching, workshops, and competitions. Together, these programs support both new and existing businesses in Southeast Alaska and empower business owners through increased self-sufficiency. To learn more about Path to Prosperity or Spruce Root’s other services, visit their website at www.spruceroot.org or email grow@spruceroot.org.

 

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Check out the June 2020 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the June 2020 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short articles about an update on the Sitka Farmers Market and our contingency plans for the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, a story about our new logo, an update on the last day to make Pick.Click.Give. donation changes, an invitation to join our board of directors, and a thank you to those businesses and individuals sponsoring us for 2020. 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).

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference June 17 in Sitka

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Wednesday, June 17. This is an all-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Palmer, Juneau, 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 Monday, June 8.

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 ($75) 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.