Local food in Alaska projects and research

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• Sitka Conservation Society hosts wild foods potluck and annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 13

The Sitka Conservation Society, which helps sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network, is hosting its community wild foods potluck and annual meeting from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

This annual event gives Sitka residents a chance to share meals made with locally foraged food, from fish and wild game to seaweed, berries and other traditional subsistence foods. Doors open at 5 p.m., with food service starting at 5:30 p.m. Families are asked to bring in dishes that feature local wild foods, and if you can’t bring in a dish that features wild foods you can use a wild plant to garnish a dish made with store-bought foods. Local cooks can enter their dishes in a wild foods contest, too. The event also features live music from the SitNiks and a short presentation on the Tongass Wilderness. There also will be booths about local programs and projects before food is served.

This event kicks off the Sitka Conservation Society’s “Wild Week,” which features events from Nov. 13-20. Another local foods-oriented event is the “Eat Wild” benefit dinner that takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at the New Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar. Hors d’oeurves start at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Bayview chef Josh Peavey will prepare the meal, which also includes a sampling of locally produced beer from Baranof Island Brewing Company. Tickets for this special event are $60 each and available from Old Harbor Books and the Sitka Conservation Society.

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• Sitka Seafood Festival moves from August to May in 2011

The Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee met on Monday, Nov. 8, to start planning the second festival. One of the biggest changes will be moving the festival from August to May in 2011 so the festival takes place before the tourist season gets busy. The new dates will be Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, 2011, at Harrigan Centennial Hall and the Crescent Harbor shelter.

The inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival in August was very successful, and it looks like the steering committee plans to keep the same basic formula for the second festival. The festival had a guest chef who worked with local chefs to prepare a special gourmet seafood dinner on Friday night, and Saturday featured a full day of events with booths for seafood vendors, children’s events, artists and other vendors, an entertainment event in the afternoon and guest band performing at night.

Notes from Monday’s meeting are posted below. The next steering committee meeting will be at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 6, at the Channel Club, 2906 Halibut Point Road. For more information, contact Alicia Peavey at sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com or 1-928-607-4845.

• Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee meeting notes from Nov. 8, 2010

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• Sitka Health Summit project to plant 200 fruit trees gains momentum

A cluster of Parkland apples (photo from the Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association gallery, http://www.apfga.org/)

A cluster of Parkland apples (photo from the Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association gallery, http://www.apfga.org/)

The work group formed during the 2010 Sitka Health Summit to plant 200 fruit trees in Sitka met on Monday, Nov. 8, and the project is gaining momentum.

The group plans to plant 200 apple, crabapple or cherry trees in Sitka before the next Sitka Health Summit on Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2011. The work group has been researching which trees grow best in Sitka’s climate, researching possible funding sources, and researching possible locations to plant 200 fruit trees around the community. The work group also might plant some berry bushes around town to complement the fruit trees.

The group will go public with some of its plans during the Sitka Conservation Society‘s wild foods potluck and annual meeting from at 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

A couple of members in the work group attended the city’s Tree and Landscape Committee’s meeting later in the week and presented a list of about 3-4 dozen locations around Sitka they think might make good locations for fruit trees.

Notes from both meetings are posted below as PDF files. The next meeting for the 200 fruit trees in Sitka work group is from 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 13, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. For more information, contact Kari Lundgren at kari.lundgren@searhc.org or 738-2089.

• Notes from the Sitka Fruit Tree Planting Work Group meeting held on Nov. 8, 2010

• List of possible fruit tree locations presented at the Sitka Tree and Landscape Committee

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• Large crowd braves weather for Running of the Boots to support Sitka Local Foods Network

Participants line up behind the Running of the Boots banner before the start of the race

Participants line up behind the Running of the Boots banner before the start of the race

Despite high winds and rain, a large crowd of about 150-200 people showed up at Crescent Harbor Shelter on Saturday, Sept. 25, for the 16th annual Running of the Boots, a fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network. The event was part of the third annual Summer’s End Celebration hosted by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Cruise Association.

Many of the runners were in costume, especially the younger runners. There were

Two fairy princesses and their dogs before the race

Two fairy princesses and their dogs before the race

Jesuit Volunteer priests, fairy princesses, witches, swimmers and a bug. Some costumes were covered by heavy rain gear, but the XtraTuf rubber boot (aka, the Sitka Sneaker) was a key part of just about every costume.

While there was a race on Saturday, the event was all about fun, with a lip-synch event and the Sitka Blues Band to spice things up. And we even had a table to sell late-season Sitka Farmers Market produce.

The Sitka Local Foods Network appreciates everybody who participated in this fundraiser. A slideshow from the Running of the Boots is posted below, and you can go to our Shutterfly site for a similar slideshow.

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• Fourth annual Sitka Health Summit takes place on Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 4-5

Sitka residents are invited to join their community in honoring our local wellness champions and planning our health priorities for the next year during the fourth annual Sitka Health Summit, “Working Together for a Healthier Sitka,” on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 4-5, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

The Sitka Local Foods Network got its start as two community food security projects from the 2008 Sitka Health Summit — to create a local foods market and to create a community greenhouse/expand local community gardens. In 2009 the Sitka Local Foods Network received a community wellness champion award for nutrition.

There are two main community events during the Sitka Health Summit — the Sitka Community Dessert and Awards Ceremony on Monday, Oct. 4, and the Planning Day: Real Ideas Into Action on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

Julien Naylor, MD, MPH

Julien Naylor, MD, MPH

Doors open for Monday’s program at 6 p.m., with the program starting at 6:30 p.m. The event features a selection of free local and organic desserts provided by Sitka Spuce Catering for the first 200 people. The keynote presentation will be by Dr. Julien Naylor, an internal medicine/diabetes specialist at SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital who will speak about the importance of creating a healthy community in Sitka and how to help people move toward a more healthful life. Following the presentation will be an awards ceremony honoring our community wellness champions. This event is free, but donations will be accepted for the Sitka Health Summit’s new Health Initiatives Fund. Also, raffle tickets for a watercolor by local artist Pat Kehoe and other prizes are being sold for $5 each to raise money for the Health Initiatives Fund.

Sitka Local Foods Network president Kerry MacLane, left, and secretary/treasurer Linda Wilson say a few words after the Sitka Local Foods Network received a Community Wellness Champion award for nutrition at the 2009 Sitka Health Summit

Sitka Local Foods Network president Kerry MacLane, left, and secretary/treasurer Linda Wilson say a few words after the Sitka Local Foods Network received a Community Wellness Champion award for nutrition at the 2009 Sitka Health Summit

Tuesday’s program from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will allow Sitka residents to set the community’s health and wellness goals for 2010-11. Some of our recent past goals were to make Sitka more bicycle friendly and to start a market for local foods, and they resulted in Sitka becoming Alaska’s first official Bicycle Friendly Community in 2008 and the creation of the Sitka Farmers Market. This year’s top goals and priorities will receive seed money from the new Health Initiatives Fund. There also will be a community health and wellness resource room open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Exhibit Room. Snacks and lunch will be available.

The Sitka Health Summit is brought to you by Sitka Community Hospital and the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), with major financial help from Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, the City and Borough of Sitka, Scott Insurance Services, White’s Inc./Harry Race Pharmacy/White’s Pharmacy and the University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus. The Sitka Health Summit’s vision is “to serve our great state as a model for community wellness by creating a healthy community where all Sitkans strive for and enjoy a high quality of life.”

For more information about the Sitka Health Summit, contact Holly Keen at 738-2707 or sitkahealthsummit@gmail.com, or go to our Web site at http://www.sitkahealthsummit.org/.

• Sitka Health Summit poster (PDF file, feel free to print out and post around town)

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• A reminder about Saturday’s Sitka Farmers Market and other items

Don’t forget, we have a Sitka Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28, at ANB Hall (235 Katlian St.). We’re getting a little bit later in the summer, so hopefully we’ll have some root vegetables available this week, such as potatoes, carrots and turnips, that weren’t available earlier this summer.

Also, this is the last week to vote in the America’s Favorite Farmers Market contest. Voting closes at midnight (Eastern time, 8 p.m. Alaska time) on Tuesday, Aug. 31. Click the logo in the right column or click the link above and vote for the Sitka Farmers Market.

Finally, Saturday is the last day of the Alaska Grown Eat Local Challenge. This event runs from Aug. 22-28 and encourages Alaskans to eat meals made with local food. We live in an area with lots of salmon, halibut and other fish, plus people with gardens should have lots of greens, potatoes and other veggies in season right now, with lots of berries for dessert.

If you don’t have your own garden, there will be lots of local veggies and fish for sale at Saturday’s Sitka Farmers Market. Eating local food means the food is fresher, so it tastes better and it has more nutrients. Also by eating local food you eliminate thousands of miles of transportation costs bringing your food to your plate.

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• Sitka Seafood Festival to hold debriefing meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 17)

Now that the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival is over, the steering committee will host a debriefing meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, Aug. 17, at the wine bar at the New Bayview Restaurant. The debriefing session will be informal and shouldn’t last long. People who can’t make it, but have comments, can contact festival coordinator Alicia Peavey.

To learn more about the Sitka Seafood Festival or to find out how you can be a part of the second annual festival, send an e-mail to sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com. You also can contact Alicia Peavey at alaska_al33@hotmail.com or 1-928-607-4845.

Anyway, here is a slideshow of scenes from the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival. A similar slideshow can be found at the Sitka Local Foods Network’s photo site on Shutterfly.

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• Alaska Grown, Alaska Center For The Environment team up to host the Eat Local Challenge 2010 on Aug. 22-28

The state’s Alaska Grown program will host its “Eat Local Challenge 2010” on Sunday through Saturday, Aug. 22-28 (click here to read more). This year, the Alaska Center for the Environment, has joined Alaska Grown as a sponsor as part of the center’s local foods and sustainable communities program.

Alaskans have many ways to eat local, from veggies they grow in their own gardens or buy from Alaska farmers, berries they pick, fish they catch, game meat they hunt, seaweed and other beach greens they gather, etc. The benefit of eating local food is it’s fresher so it tastes better and has more nutrients, and you cut out the thousands of miles of transportation costs needed to ship food from the Lower 48 and other countries to Alaska. Growing local food makes a community more sustainable.

During the week of Aug. 22-28, 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 for the Eat Local Challenge is during the third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Aug. 14, and during the fourth market on Saturday, Aug. 28. The Sitka Farmers Markets take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays (through Sept. 11) at historic Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, 235 Katlian St. We’ll see you there.

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• Deadline nears for getting food and other entries to the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines

The deadline for getting your local entries ready for the Southeast Alaska State Fair is this week if you want to take advantage of free shipping from Sitka.

Jeanette Berry, the Sitka town representative for the fair, needs to have all non-perishable entries packed and delivered to the Alaska Marine Lines office in Sitka by the afternoon of Thursday, July 8, so they can be loaded onto the Tuesday, July 13, barge to Haines. She can provide assistance and free shipping on the entries that will be barged to Haines. Perishable items will be flown to Haines, but free shipping may not available on those items (Jeanette is researching to see what shipping rates might be for perishable items).

The Southeast Alaska State Fair takes place from July 29 through Aug. 1 at the Haines Fairgrounds, just outside Haines. The fair provides a regional showcase for agricultural and domestic arts, creative arts and crafts, and the opportunity for educational, cross-cultural and social exchange.

There are exhibits for a wide variety of food items, from big veggies to jams and jellies, even homemade beer and wine. There are hundreds of categories to enter, so click this link and download the 59-page exhibitor’s guide book for information about what types of items can be entered and how the entries should be prepared.

To learn more about how Jeanette can help you ship your entries to Haines, call her at 747-3222 (home) or 1-360-271-8197 (cell). It’s not too late to share your talents with other residents of Southeast Alaska.

2010 Southeast Alaska State Fair exhibitor’s guide book (PDF file)

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• Down To Earth u-pick garden opens for its second summer of providing fresh produce in Sitka

Sitka resident Lori Adams said the Down To Earth u-pick garden is open for its second summer of producing locally grown vegetables that Sitka residents can pick themselves.

Lori said she has lettuce and spinach available now, as well as rhubarb, white and red radishes, herbs, Egyptian walking onions, and a few plant starts. She also makes gift baskets. Lori is posting updates to the Sitka Local Foods Marketplace page about what in-season produce is available. (This page is available for other Sitka gardeners, commercial fishermen and other local food producers to use to let residents know what food is available.)

The Down To Earth u-pick garden is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays for the rest of the summer, and people can reach Lori at 738-2241 to see what produce is available and what’s about to come into season. The garden is located at 2103 Sawmill Creek Road (across from the Mormon church, look for the sign in the photo). Click here to learn more about the Down to Earth u-pick garden.

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