Local food in Alaska projects and research

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking Around The World series class on Austrian strudel

Students learned how to make a variety of types of Austrian strudel on Wednesday, April 12, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the fourth of five classes in the Cooking Around The World class series offered this spring.

The class was taught by Suat Tuzlak, the former owner of the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and co-author of “Little Cookbook For The Great Outdoors.” Suat is in Sitka teaching several yoga classes at Yoga Union and two Cooking Around The World classes for the Sitka Kitch.

In this class, students learned how to prepare the strudel dough, including a rolling trick using a bedsheet. They also tried four different types of fillings — three savory (spinach and feta cheese; kale, mushroom and onions; and cabbage, onion and caraway seeds) and one dessert filling (apple, raisin, nuts and cinnamon).

The final Cooking Around The World series class is:

  • Turkey — 5-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 17, taught by Suat Tuzlak. For this class, Suat, who is Turkish, will teach students how to make a Turkish dinner that is vegan and gluten-free without using sophisticated ingredients. You will learn to make red lentil soup, green beans with olive oil, festive rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts, and a fusion dessert, chia-coconut pudding. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

When registering, students should prepay for the class through the Sitka Kitch online registration site, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, using PayPal or credit/debit card. If you need other payment arrangements, contact Chandler or Clarice of Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 to arrange a time when you can pay with cash or check. To qualify for a partial refund, please notify us at least three days in advance if you need to cancel. The registration deadline is three days before each class so our instructors have time to purchase materials. Please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org with any questions.

Watch the Sitka Kitch page on Facebook or our online registration page to see when these and any future classes are scheduled (there will be a Preserving The Harvest class series this summer).

A slideshow of scenes from the Austrian strudel class follows below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Alaskans Own Seafood CSF program subscriptions open for the 2017 season

(Photo by Nancy Behnken)

Alaskan’s Own Seafood, which is a community-supported fishery (CSF) program run by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), has opened and is receiving subscription orders for the 2017 season.

Alaskans Own was the first CSF program in Alaska. Now in its eighth year, AO was created to connect consumers to small boat fishermen, ensure that more fish caught in Alaska stays in Alaska, and create a sustainable source of revenue to support ALFA’s Fishery Conservation Network, which engages fishermen and scientists in conservation and research initiatives.

(Photo by Caroline Lester)

Similar to community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, CSF programs address an important environmental and socio-economic need by strengthening consumer-producer relationships. By forward-funding a season of seafood, subscribers invest in sustainable harvest and the rural fishermen who catch their fish, as well as supporting the web of seafood-related jobs that provide the economic backbone for our coastal communities.

Alaskans Own has just released its prices, and early bird customers who subscribe before Saturday, April 15, will receive these prices (which are at a 10-percent discount).

Sitka CSF Prices:

  • Four Month half share (5 lbs/month, May-August), $300
  • Four Month full share (10 lbs/month, May-August), $435
  • Six Month half share (5 lbs/month, May-October), $565
  • Six Month full share (10 lbs/month, May-October), $825

Non-Sitka CSF Prices (available in Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Seattle):

  • Four Month half share (5 lbs/month, May-August), $330
  • Four Month full share (10 lbs/month, May-August), $480
  • Six Month half share (5 lbs/month, May-October), $605
  • Six Month full share (10 lbs/month, May-October), $885

(Photo by Josh Roper/ASMI)

There are four-month and six-month subscriptions available starting in May. The six-month subscriptions allow people to keep receiving freshly caught seafood through October instead of August, when the traditional four-month subscriptions end. Half-subscriptions also are available. Subscriptions include a mix of locally troll-caught black cod (sablefish), halibut, king salmon, coho salmon, lingcod and miscellaneous rockfish, depending on the commercial fishing season and prices.

(Photo by Josh Roper/ASMI)

“Alaskans Own’s model is unique from other CSFs because it is not only connecting customers to the fishermen that caught their fish, it is supporting a range of fishermen-sourced conservation initiatives,” says Alyssa Russell, ALFA’s Communications Coordinator. “We’re so excited to be bringing customers to another year of sustainably-caught, delicious seafood.”

If you don’t live in one of our CSF cities and are interested in ordering fish in bulk, please feel free to contact Alyssa Russell or Willow Moore at alaskansownfish@gmail.com or 747-3400.

Please purchase your fish by visiting our online store at alaskansown.com

Learn more about our Fishery Conservation Network at alfafish.org

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Sitka Tribe of Alaska to host annual Sitka Herring Festival Community Potluck on April 12

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska will host the annual Sitka Herring Festival Community Potluck Dinner at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and will celebrate the cultural and ecological importance of Pacific herring.

The potluck is open to the community — please feel free to invite anyone you think may be interested. Please bring a dish to share.
The event also will feature talks on recent work on herring genetics and traditional ecological knowledge by Dr. Lorenz Hauser and Eleni Petrou of the University of Washington. Dr. Hauser will present “What can population genetics do for herring management?” and Ms. Petrou will present “Genetics and traditional ecological knowledge detect herring diversity in Puget Sound.”
Dr. Hauser is a Professor with the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Principal Investigator of the Marine Population Genomics Lab at UW. In addition to his work on herring genetics in Puget Sound, Dr. Hauser has also collaborated with the Alaska Salmon Program to estimate reproductive success of sockeye salmon. Ms. Petrou is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Hauser’s lab and her interests include investigating marine connectivity and exploring the impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems. She is integrating traditional ecological knowledge into her study of the population genetics of Pacific herring.
For a bit more context, here is a brief article on Dr. Hauser and Ms. Petrou’s work with herring population genetics and traditional ecological knowledge, https://wsg.washington.edu/elder-memories-ancient-dna-and-the-fate-of-the-herring-2/.
For more information, contact fisheries biologist Kyle Rosendale of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Resources Department at 747-7241.
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Path To Prosperity contest seeks innovative food businesses for 2017 competition

Two Southeast Alaska businesses were recognized as innovative entrepreneurs in the 2016 Path To Prosperity sustainable business competition. Skya’ana Coffee Company of Klawock (Tina Steffen, left) and Wild Alaska Kelp Company of Juneau (Matt Kern, right) will each receive up to $40,000 in seed money for consulting/technical assistance to develop the business concept, along with support in finding investor funding. (Photos by Michael Penn, Juneau Empire)

Are you trying to launch or grow a food business?  The 2017 Path To Prosperity Competition (P2P) sustainable business competition aims to identify and support innovative Southeast Alaska food businesses.  Supporting local food businesses reduces Southeast Alaska’s dependence on imports, strengthens community resiliency, and promotes sustainable use of the region’s natural bounty.

Path To Prosperity is a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Spruce Root, Inc. (formerly the Haa Aaní Community Development Fund, Inc.). Spruce Root and TNC are committed to strengthening local food systems by supporting food entrepreneurs from across the region. In previous years, the Path To Prosperity competition included a variety of businesses, such as locally made skis and guitars, but this year the competition is focused on food.

“We’re excited to try something a little different for the next round and connect with the growing local foods movement in Southeast Alaska,” says P2P competition administrator Paul Hackenmueller. “This year’s competition will provide resources to help local food entrepreneurs incorporate social, economic, and environmental sustainability techniques into their business models.”

Eligible businesses must operate primarily in Southeast Alaska and be involved in the growing, harvesting, processing, aggregation, preparation or distribution of food. “P2P applicants can be existing businesses or start-ups, but do not need to submit a full business plan in the first round of the application process,” said Paul Hackenmueller, P2P competition administrator. “We want to encourage new entrepreneurs to apply, even if they haven’t started their business yet, so the Round 1 application doesn’t require a full business plan.  We only ask for a basic description of the business concept.” P2P helps entrepreneurs identify ways to make their businesses profitable, while also having positive social and environmental impacts on their communities.

Twelve applicants will be selected as finalists to advance to Round 2 of the competition and attend P2P’s innovative Business Boot Camp weekend in Juneau. All 12 finalists receive one-on-one mentorship and consulting that they can use to help write their business plans and grow their businesses after they return to their communities. The Boot Camp experience is valuable for all finalists who attend, whether or not they win the competition.

“Thanks to P2P, I have a clear vision of where I am headed and a solid business plan that I developed as the roadmap to the future of our company,” said Tina Steffen of Skya’ana Coffee Company in Klawock, one of two winners of the 2016 competition.

Timeline for 2017 Path To Prosperity Competition

  • April 1, 2017 – Application Period Opens
  • May 9, 2017 – Webinar
  • May 31, 2017 – Applications Due
  • July 7, 2017 – Announce Finalists Advancing to Round 2
  • Sept. 29 to Oct.1, 2017 – Boot Camp Weekend in Juneau
  • Dec. 3, 2017 – Business Plan Submissions Deadline
  • February 2018 –Two Winners Announced

The competition is open to all Southeast Alaska residents.  This includes individuals, for-profit businesses and tribal entities.

For more information on how to apply or learn more, click here.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s ‘Nourish’ series class on spring detox

Students learned how to make a variety of dishes for a spring detox on Monday, April 3, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the fifth of five classes in the Nourish: Using Food As Medicine For Optimum Health class series offered as part of National Nutrition Month this March.

The class series was taught by Holly Marban, a Sitka nutritionist and holistic health coach. In this class, students made a detoxifying green goddess salad, red beet hummus, creamy cauliflower and leek soup with homemade basil pesto, and green smoothies. Previous Nourish class topics included nutrition foundations (March 6), balancing blood sugar with whole foods (March 13), everyday superfoods (March 20) and foods to fight inflammation (March 27).

While the Nourish series is over, the Sitka Kitch still has two classes remaining in its five-class Cooking Around The World class series with space available. These classes are:

  • Austria — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 12, taught by Suat Tuzlak. Suat is the former owner of the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and co-author of “Little Cookbook For The Great Outdoors.” For this class he will teach students how to make a savory strudel with two fillings and a sweet strudel with apples that’s great with ice cream. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 9. (Note, this class is sold out, but you can email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org to get on our waiting list if space opens up.)
  • Turkey — 5-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 17, taught by Suat Tuzlak. For this class, Suat, who is Turkish, will teach students how to make a Turkish dinner that is vegan and gluten-free without using sophisticated ingredients. You will learn to make red lentil soup, green beans with olive oil, festive rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts, and a fusion dessert, chia-coconut pudding. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

When registering, students should prepay for the class through the Sitka Kitch online registration site, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, using PayPal or credit/debit card. If you need other payment arrangements, contact Chandler or Clarice of Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 to arrange a time when you can pay with cash or check. To qualify for a partial refund, please notify us at least three days in advance if you need to cancel. The registration deadline is three days before each class so our instructors have time to purchase materials. Please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org with any questions.

Watch the Sitka Kitch page on Facebook or our online registration page to see when these and any future classes are scheduled (there will be a Preserving The Harvest class series this summer).

A slideshow of scenes from the spring detox class follows below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

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Check out the April 2017 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2017 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short items about spring garden classes, the recruitment of a manager for the Sitka Farmers Market, a new sponsorship program for the Sitka Local Foods Network, a request for new board members, and an item about an upcoming cottage food business basics class. 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.

 

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking Around The World series class on Thai cooking

Students learned how to make a Thai chicken coconut soup and panang muu (aka, panang pork curry) on Tuesday, March 28, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the third of five classes in the Cooking Around The World class series offered this spring.

The class was taught by Nancy Knapp, a longtime Sitka health program manager who also spent several years living and working in Laos and Thailand. She also taught a Thai cooking class last year, and both classes were sold out.

Future Cooking Around The World series classes include:

  • Austria — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 12, taught by Suat Tuzlak. Suat is the former owner of the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and co-author of “Little Cookbook For The Great Outdoors.” For this class he will teach students how to make a savory strudel with two fillings and a sweet strudel with apples that’s great with ice cream. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 9.
  • Turkey — 5-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 17, taught by Suat Tuzlak. For this class, Suat, who is Turkish, will teach students how to make a Turkish dinner that is vegan and gluten-free without using sophisticated ingredients. You will learn to make red lentil soup, green beans with olive oil, festive rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts, and a fusion dessert, chia-coconut pudding. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

When registering, students should prepay for the class through the Sitka Kitch online registration site, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, using PayPal or credit/debit card. If you need other payment arrangements, contact Chandler or Clarice of Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 to arrange a time when you can pay with cash or check. To qualify for a partial refund, please notify us at least three days in advance if you need to cancel. The registration deadline is three days before each class so our instructors have time to purchase materials. Please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org with any questions.

Watch the Sitka Kitch page on Facebook or our online registration page to see when these and any future classes are scheduled (there will be a Preserving The Harvest class series this summer).

A slideshow of scenes from the Thai cooking class follows below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Tlingít potato garden being readied for community of Sitka

(Photo courtesy of Klas Stolpe/Juneau Empire) Bill Ehlers, assistant gardener at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum in Juneau, holds a Tlingít potato next to some of the potato plant’s flowers.

The U.S. Forest Service-Sitka Ranger District and Sitka Tribe of Alaska have joined forces to help create an educational opportunity and traditional food source for community members.

The two groups will show how to grow Tlingít potatoes, and tell about their biology, history and cultural aspects.

The Sitka Ranger District is providing a plot of land to serve as the shared potato garden. The Sitka Tribe’s Traditional Foods Program and the gardening class from Pacific High School will assist on the project, but community involvement also is needed.

Attendees should bring boots, gardening gloves and shovels, and (if possible) five-gallon buckets of kelp to incorporate into the soil. The first work day and educational opportunity is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14, at the Sitka Ranger District office, 2108 Halibut Point Road.

Organizers said that members of the community who help tend the shared garden may receive more than gratitude as their reward.

“We hope to share the harvest among those helping out, and possibly share potatoes through the Sitka Tribe’s Traditional Foods Program and Social Services,” Sitka District Ranger Perry Edwards said. “This project will teach people how to grow and sustain a traditional food, while supporting the growing need for food security among Sitka families.”

K’únts’ — sometimes called Maria’s Potatoes — have been present in Tlingít gardens for more than 200 years. The potatoes originate from Mexico or Chile and were a trade item in Southeast Alaska in the early 1800s.

For more information, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 or mputz@fs.fed.us.

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service releases new food gardening app, Grow & Tell

Heidi Rader shows her new Grow & Tell app. (Photo by Jeff Fay, for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service)

Heidi Rader describes the new Grow & Tell app and website she developed as “essentially Yelp for gardeners.”

Rader teaches gardening and farming as the tribes Extension educator for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. She also reaches gardeners and farmers from around the state through distance-delivered courses.The free app, which was released Tuesday, allows gardeners in the United States to see what vegetable varieties grow best in their areas based on what other gardeners say. The app also invites gardeners to act as citizen scientists and rate the varieties that they have grown for taste, yield and reliability.

Vegetable variety trials conducted in Fairbanks show what grows well here, she said but not in other areas of the state.

“That works pretty well for me but not for people, say, in Arctic Village or Nome,” she said.

Rader hopes that lots of gardeners will rate crops, which will make the app more useful for others. “It’s citizen scientists conducting variety trials where they live,” she said.

The app is available on the App Store for iPhones, Google Play for android phones or as a website at www.growandtell.us. Development of the app was funded by a grant from the eXtension Foundation to promote innovation in the Cooperative Extension Service. To keep the app free, Rader said, Extension will seek sponsorships to pay for updates, fixes and regular maintenance. Additionally, event advertising can also be purchased and targeted to app users locally, by state or nationally.

Rader hopes to expand the app to capture ratings on other plants used in the landscape and garden, including trees, shrubs, flowers, fruits and berries.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks recognized Rader with a 2016 Invent Alaska Award for her work on the app. Cornell University contributed ratings that it had already collected as well as lessons learned from operating a similar citizen science project. A Boston-based company, Geisel Software, built the app. For more information, contact Heidi Rader at grow.andtell@alaska.edu.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s ‘Nourish’ series class on balancing blood sugar levels

Students learned how to make a variety of dishes that will help people balance their blood sugar levels on Monday, March 13, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the second of five classes in the Nourish: Using Food As Medicine For Optimum Health class series offered as part of National Nutrition Month this March.

The class series is taught by Holly Marban, a Sitka nutritionist and holistic health coach. In this class, students made a vegetable frittata, a kale salad with an apple cider vinaigrette, a lentil and veggie salad with nuts and herbs, with buckwheat granola, lemon vanilla yogurt, and berries for dessert. Future Nourish classes include (unfortunately, this class series is full):

  • Class 3: Everyday Superfoods — 6-8 p.m. on Monday, March 20
    • In this class we’ll take a look at some nutritional superstars of the plant kingdom and explore ways to boost the nutrient content of everyday foods. Sprouting, soaking, and fermentation will be discussed as ways to amp up the nutritional profile of certain foods. We’ll create a colorful meal of quinoa vegetable “sushi” with sprouts, a super greens salad with hemp-ginger dressing, and chia pudding with herbed citrus compote.
  • Class 4: Foods to Fight Inflammation — 6-8 p.m. on Monday, March 27
    • In this class, we’ll explore the concept of inflammation in the body and how it can impact overall health. Learn what inflammation is, which foods more easily cause inflammation, and how to use food to decrease and/or prevent it. We’ll make a version of the recently popular warm beverage called “golden milk,” coconut-ginger braised leafy greens with chickpeas and steamed buckwheat, and a raw blueberry tart.
  • Class 5: Spring Detox — 6-8 p.m. on Monday, April 3
    • Learn how to use whole foods to support the natural detoxification processes in your body. With a focus on spring greens and other seasonal produce, we’ll make a simple green smoothie, red beet hummus with cruciferous vegetables, green goddess salad, and creamy cauliflower soup.

 

In addition, the Sitka Kitch still has three classes remaining in its Cooking Around The World class series with space available. These classes are:

  • Thailand — 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday, March 28, taught by Nancy Knapp. Nancy is a longtime health educator from Sitka who spent several years in Laos and Thailand. She still hasn’t announced which dishes she will teach for this class, but she taught a Thai cooking class last year that sold out quickly and had a long waiting list. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.
  • Austria — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 12, taught by Suat Tuzlak. Suat is the former owner of the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and co-author of “Little Cookbook For The Great Outdoors.” For this class he will teach students how to make a savory strudel with two fillings and a sweet strudel with apples that’s great with ice cream. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 9.
  • Turkey — 5-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 17, taught by Suat Tuzlak. For this class, Suat, who is Turkish, will teach students how to make a Turkish dinner that is vegan and gluten-free without using sophisticated ingredients. You will learn to make red lentil soup, green beans with olive oil, festive rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts, and a fusion dessert, chia-coconut pudding. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

When registering, students should prepay for the class through the Sitka Kitch online registration site, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, using PayPal or credit/debit card. If you need other payment arrangements, contact Chandler or Clarice of Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 to arrange a time when you can pay with cash or check. To qualify for a partial refund, please notify us at least three days in advance if you need to cancel. The registration deadline is three days before each class so our instructors have time to purchase materials. Please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org with any questions.

Watch the Sitka Kitch page on Facebook or our online registration page to see when these and any future classes are scheduled (there will be a Preserving The Harvest class series this summer).

A slideshow of scenes from the balancing blood sugars class follows below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.