Local food in Alaska projects and research

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service, SLFN to host online class on starting a cottage foods business

Learn the basics of starting and running a home-based foods business as Sarah Lewis teaches students How to Start a Cottage Foods Business from 4:30-6 p.m. on Monday, June 24, via Zoom.

This class is to help vendors prepare for the upcoming Sitka Farmers Markets hosted by the Sitka Local Foods Network.

Sarah Lewis — the home, health and family development agent for the Juneau office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service — will teach this class by videoconference from Juneau. Students will 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. The first part will be spent discussing food safety rules and regulations, and the second part of the class will be for questions and answers.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is offering students of this class half off their Sitka Farmers Market vendor fee for the first market of the season where they host a table. Representatives from the Sitka Local Foods Network/Sitka Farmers Market and (hopefully) the Sitka food safety office of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are planning to attend so they can answer any questions potential cottage foods business owners may have.

For more information and to get the Zoom link, contact Charles Bingham at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com or 907-623-7660.

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Vendor registration open for 2024 Sitka Farmers Markets

St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt arranges vegetables before a 2023 Sitka Farmers Market.

Vendor registration is open for the 2024 Sitka Farmers Markets. This 17th annual community event is hosted by the Sitka Local Foods Network, a nonprofit working to improve Sitka’s food security. The online vendor registration page, http://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com, is live and ready for vendors to sign up and pre-pay for their spots.

This summer the Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting seven markets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays — June 29, July 13, July 27, Aug. 10, Aug. 24, Sept. 7, and Sept. 21 — at Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street), where we held 13 of our first 15 years of markets. This will be our 15th year at ANB out of 17 seasons.

All vendors will pay $40 per market for a full table inside or outside or to bring a food truck, and $25 for a half table inside. We have a special rate of $240 for vendors who register for all seven markets before the first market happens, which means you pay for six markets and get one market free. Vendors can register for one or two markets, or all seven. We also have a youth vendor program for ages 14 and younger, which is $20 for all seven markets (please let us know ahead of time which specific markets you plan to attend).

The Sitka Farmers Market is a community event hosted by the Sitka Local Foods Network, whose mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. Our focus is on local — fresh produce, fish, baked goods, prepared foods, cottage foods, arts and crafts — and all products must be made in Alaska (preferably in Sitka or Southeast Alaska, cooked foods may use non-local foods so long as the food is cooked on site). Since our mission is geared toward food security and our space is limited this year, if we have too many vendors try to register our food booths will have a higher priority over arts and crafts.

After having to relocate for two years due to COVID-19, we returned to our ANB Hall roots in 2022 for our 15th season of markets. We are back at ANB Hall again this summer, and we plan to bring back half tables after dropping them to help spread out the crowds with COVID-19. We will have indoor and outdoor spaces, but if we don’t have a lot of vendors we will move people inside. Since COVID-19 is still around, we will encourage wearing masks inside the ANB Hall when Sitka is at the Moderate or High risk levels. While most people now are vaccinated against the coronavirus, there still are people who aren’t vaccinated and there are periodic hot spots when the illness flares up. We don’t want the market to be a place that spreads the coronavirus. Even with our outside booths, we encourage vendors and customers to wear masks, to use hand sanitizer, and to avoid bunching up while giving others six feet of space.

Please read the market vendor rules and responsibilities document linked below. All vendors using this site to register for the market will be held to these rules. We ask all vendors to register by the Thursday morning before the markets where they intend to sell. Unless you specify you want to be outside, we will try to find room for you indoors. We are back to selling half-tables this year after not having them because we needed to have social-distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Vendors can pay using PayPal or credit/debit card. When you get to the Payment options, click PayPal (not Invoice) and it should give you the option of using a PayPal account or four different types of cards (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Discover). If you prefer to pay by cash or check, contact Charles Bingham at 907-623-7660. We will provide a $35 refund for full-table and outside cancellations or $20 for a half-table cancellation, but to get the refund you are required to let us know before Wednesday of the week of your registered market that you can’t make it. We are billed for transaction fees and other expenses, so the $5 covers those fees. There is no refund if you don’t let us know until after Wednesday.

Debe Brincefield is the Sitka Farmers Market manager this summer. Laura Schmidt is our lead gardener at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, where the Sitka Local Foods Network grows most of the produce it sells at the market. Charles Bingham is the assistant market manager and the president of the Sitka Local Foods Network.

For questions about the market, email us at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or call (907) 623-7660. More details about the market will be posted on the Sitka Local Foods Network website, http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org, and shared on its Facebook pages — https://www.facebook.com/SitkaLocalFoodsNetwork and https://www.facebook.com/SitkaFarmersMarket — and on Twitter, https://www.twitter.com/SitkaLocalFoods.

• 2024 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Rules and Responsibilities

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Pacific High School sets annual plant sale for Friday and Saturday, May 3-4

Pacific High School has a spring plant sale coming up next weekend.

The plant sale is a fundraiser for Pacific High School’s Farm to Table program, where students learn to grow and cook local veggies through the kitchen and garden facilities on site. Xóots Elementary School kindergarteners also participate in the garden program, planting Lingít potatoes in the spring, which they return to harvest as first-graders in the fall.

We’ve planted quite a variety of seedlings this year, from kale and cauliflower to tomatoes and basil and calendula and cosmos. For a more extensive list feel free to email school garden coordinator Andrea Fraga at middleislandgardens@gmail.com.

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Alaskans Owns 2024 early bird seafood shares on sale now

SITKA, Alaska – Alaskans Own is excited to announce that seafood lovers throughout Alaska and Seattle can now sign up for Alaskans Own’s 2024 Monthly Seafood Shares. This year marks the 15th year that Alaskans Own will deliver monthly shares of wild Alaskan seafood directly to consumers through its Community Supported Fishery.

Based on the widespread Community Supported Agriculture (aka, CSAs) 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, Seattle and starting this year in Bellingham.

In 2024, all profits from Alaskans Own seafood sales will go towards ALFA’s Fishery Conservation Network and community health and resilience programs such as ALFA’s Seafood Distribution Network. The Seafood Donation Program, now the Seafood Distribution Network, 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 Sitka Legacy Fund, First Bank of Alaska, Sealaska, Sitka Rotary Club, The Wave Foundation, Seafood Producers Cooperative, Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, Bristol Bay Native Corporation, Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute and a host of individual and business donors, ALFA was able to help deliver more than 650,000 donated seafood meals to more than 100,000 families to date. Given the Seafood Distribution Network’s success and continued food insecurity amongst thousands of Alaska households, ALFA and network partners are working to sustain the Seafood Distribution Network and will dedicate a portion of Alaskans Own’s Monthly Seafood Shares to support this important work.

“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 safeguarding ocean health, 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.”

This year Alaskans Own will continue to offer the option for 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 as a result of the Covid pandemic 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 and build community. We’re so grateful for our customers who believe in our mission and invest in it every time they buy seafood from Alaskans Own,” Alaskans Own founder, commercial fisherman, and ALFA executive director Linda Behnken said.

Early Bird Seafood Share prices available through Monday, April 15 (NOTE: the prices now are available through Saturday, April 20). To learn more about Alaskans Own’s Monthly Seafood Shares and other seafood products, visit www.alaskansown.com.

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Second Sitka Food Summit to take place on Monday, April 22

Join Transition Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network for the second Sitka Food Summit on Monday, April 22. This event will explore findings, offer feedback, and view the information collected for the 2024 Sitka Community Food Assessment.

Come by Harrigan Centennial Hall any time between 6-8 p.m. on Monday, April 22, for dinner, a chance to win prizes, and to participate in an informal data-sharing event.

The inaugural Sitka Community Food Assessment was a project from the 2012 Sitka Health Summit and was published in 2014. Since it’s now a decade later and the data in the original assessment is obsolete, an update has been in the works. This event will present some preliminary findings before the new assessment is published.

The Sitka Community Food Assessment examines where Sitka residents get their food, what types they eat, what they grow, what they hunt and fish for, where they shop, what type of access people have to healthy food, and other questions about Sitka’s food supply. The findings of the food assessment will help Sitka improve its food security.

Callie Simmons has been coordinating the updated assessment, with mentorship from Lisa Sadleir-Hart who coordinated the original. During the project they had a community survey that had nearly 400 responses, led several focus groups, and more. For more information, contact sitkafoodassessment@gmail.com.

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference April 23 to Sitka

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Tuesday, April 23. This is a one-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Galena, Glennallen, Haines, Homer, Juneau, Klawock, Palmer, Sitka, Skagway, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Tok, Unalaska, Valdez, and Wrangell, 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 5:30 p.m., and participants will take a proctored computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the registration deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time. 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, April 8 (note, if anybody in Sitka wants to take the class and it’s past the deadline, contact Jasmine Shaw at the number below).

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.

In order to receive your CFPM, you are only required to pass the exam. Taking the training course is optional. If you have previously taken the course and passed the exam, you may wish to only schedule an exam. The UAF Cooperative Extension Service is working to create a network of exam proctors throughout Alaska.

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Check out the April 2024 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2024 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the search for a 2024 Sitka Farmers Market manager, the closing of the 2024 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application period where you can donate to nonprofits through the Pick.Click.Give. program, an update about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store, information about our 2024 sponsorship programs, 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 Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host Sitka tree pruning workshop

Join the UAF Cooperative Extension Service for an introduction to pruning techniques workshop with Casey Tennis from 10-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 30, at a Sitka location TBA.

Students will receive a solid base in the science and practice of selective pruning. This will include a demonstration on anything we have access to: deciduous trees, evergreen shrubs and possibly deciduous shrubs. Location TBA and will be sent to participants in advance.

The cost for this workshop is $10. Register at https://bit.ly/SitkaPruning. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made seven business days in advance to Jasmine Shaw, jdshaw2@alaska.edu, 907-747-9440. 

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2024 Alaska Farmers Market Association annual summit takes place March 22-23 on Zoom

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The 2024 Alaska Farmers Market Association annual summit takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, via Zoom. The theme is “Food for All: Rooted in Community”.

This year’s summit will feature two keynote speakers, a food access panel, a panel discussion on AFMA’s defined types of member markets, regional breakout rooms, technical assistance, marketing support, and more.

For information on guest speakers, or to register, please visit https://alaskafarmersmarkets.org/event/afma-summit.

Be sure to register for this FREE event before March 22nd

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An update on the proposed Jarvis Street Community Garden

By JOEL HANSON / Transition Sitka president, Sitka Local Foods Network treasurer

Growing a community garden from scratch is no small feat, especially if you first have to look around for a suitable location. That can take some time, as we can attest.

It was a little over a year ago in January that a few of us from two nonprofit groups, Sitka Local Foods Network and Transition Sitka, joined forces to put energy behind establishing what the Italians appropriately call an orto di orto—a garden of gardens. And what have we got to show for it so far? Niente!

Actually, that’s not strictly true. If you turn off Sawmill Creek Road at the Post Office and go up Jarvis Street to the end, you’ll see a couple survey stakes stuck in the ground. They’re on the left, just before you get to the construction site where the Sitka Homeless Coalition has cleared an area for its cabin development.

Those stakes don’t look like much in the way of progress, but don’t be fooled. A lot of work has gone into putting them there. And if all goes according to plan, much more obvious signs of a Jarvis Street Community Garden will appear by mid-summer. Don’t expect it to look green and well-tended for a while yet, though.

There is much that needs to happen over the next few months to still leave a good portion of the coming construction season for earthworks. Before we can do anything on the ½-acre site besides take measurements and dream, we need to successfully bid on the Request for Proposal (RFP) that Sitka’s Planning Department expects to issue sometime soon for a “horticulture” project.  Then we need to negotiate the details of a long-term lease. Then the city needs to write those details into an ordinance for the Assembly to consider and pass through two hearings.

Daunting as this may seem, the city’s administration and staff, as well as our Assembly, have been helpful and supportive of our efforts. Good progress is not an unreasonable expectation at this point.

The goal this summer will be to clear the parcel, fence the perimeter, and hang walk-in and drive-in gates. We’ll also harden a small portion of the site to accommodate a modest parking area and a garden support structure. The structure’s actual construction will commence in spring of next year. It will house a restroom, a tool storage area and an open shelter. Garden bed development will also begin next year.

When the Jarvis Street Community Garden opens in 2026, aspiring growers will have access to more than forty standard 10’ by 20’ plots to turn into their own home-away-from-home kitchen gardens.

If you can, consider supporting this project with a donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network or Transition Sitka.