Food choices

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• First Alaskans magazine highlights healthy berries

Screenshot of First Alaskans magazine article on healthy berries

Screenshot of First Alaskans magazine article on healthy berries

The August/September 2009 issue of First Alaskans magazine — a statewide magazine of Native business, culture and lifestyle — features an article called “Health Numbers of Berries: Antitoxidant calculations show which ones are best.” This article isn’t posted on the First Alaskans magazine Web site, so a scanned black-and-white PDF version is available by clicking here. The article also includes a recipe for Blueberry Buckle.

For more information about healthy berries, the Far North Science news service, written and edited by Doug O’Harra, about news, research and natural acts from Alaska, released a 2007 story called “Alaska Blueberries: Brain Food” (click here to see the article as published in The Alaska Report). The article includes a link to a 2006 report on extremely high antitoxidant rates in a variety of Alaska berries by University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Patricia Holloway

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• Alaska Grown hosts the “Eat Local Challenge 2009” on Aug. 23-29

Flier for the Alaska Grown "Eat Local Challenge"

The Alaska Grown program will launch its “Eat Local Challenge 2009” this week, Sunday through Saturday, Aug. 23-29 (click here to read more).

During the next week, Alaska residents are encouraged to:

• Try eating at least one home-cooked meal this week, made of mostly local ingredients.
• Try to incorporate at least one never-before-used local ingredient into a meal.
• Try “brown-bagging” at least one meal this week made primarily of local ingredients.
• Try talking to at least one local food retailer and one food producer about local food options.
• Try to choose local food products whenever possible.

By the way, a good time to buy local food this week is the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall (235 Katlian St.). We’ll see you there.

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• Movie ‘Eating Alaska’ to be shown July 16

The publicity poster for the movie Eating Alaska

The publicity poster for the movie Eating Alaska

The movie, “Eating Alaska,” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, at the Kettleson Memorial Library in Sitka. The movie is free. “Eating Alaska” is a documentary movie by Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein about how Alaskans make their food choices. In addition to the movie, other Sitka residents will be on hand to discuss the harvesting and drying of seaweed, local medicinal plants, wild edibles and cultivating wild plants.

Click here to go to the “Eating Alaska” movie Web site.