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 Since it’s now a decade later and the data in the original assessment is obsolete, an update has been in the works.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.
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).
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the March 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 entry deadline for the seventh annual Sika Food Business Innovation Contest, the opening 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).
A workshop in Sitka will teach participants how to make a classic French dish — with a Southeast Alaska flair.
Chef Jayme Schroeder said ratatouille is his favorite dish, and this version will include fresh ribbon kelp and abalone. The class is a collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.
Schroeder came to Sitka in 2011 and fell in love with the region’s biology and ecology. When he’s not working as an anesthesiologist, he is diving in the waters around Sitka. The workshop also will include a presentation of underwater photos showing the kelp and abalone in their natural habitat.
The workshop will be 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, at the Sitka Lutheran Church kitchen, downstairs at 224 Lincoln St. Please use the back entrance to the church located on Harbor Drive, as the front door will be locked. The entrance is located down a one-way alley, and parking is limited. Please use on-street parking and don’t park behind the church.
The cost is $35 and includes all materials. Register online at https://bit.ly/SitkaRatatouille. Registration is limited to 12 participants and closes at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 4.
Youths younger than 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Contact Jasmine Shaw at jdshaw2@alaska.edu or 907-747-9440 for more information.
Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made five days in advance to Shaw.
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the February 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 entry deadline for the seventh annual Sika Food Business Innovation Contest, the opening 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).
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the January 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 opening 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).
As 2023 draws to a close, many Alaskans already are thinking about applying for their 2024 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check in January. As usual, Alaskans can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits, including the Sitka Local Foods Network, through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. program.
For the past several years, the Sitka Local Foods Network has participated in the Pick.Click.Give. program, which allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications from Jan. 1 through March 31.
When you choose to donate part of your PFD to the Sitka Local Foods Network, you support the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, education programs about growing and preserving food, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, Sitka Community Gardens, matching dollars at the Sitka Farmers Market for SNAP/WIC beneficiaries, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka. Starting in 2023, the Sitka Local Foods Network partnered with Transition Sitka on two food security projects — to update the decade-old data in the 2014 Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report and to build a new community garden at the top of Jarvis Street.
In 2023 Alaskans contributed $3.197 million to 641 Alaska nonprofit organizations, and more than $36.3 million has been donated since the program started in 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups. There now are 614 total 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations participating in Pick.Click.Give. for 2024 (including multi-location nonprofits), including 27 from Sitka. In 2022, Alaskans donated $39,075 to Sitka-based nonprofits (note, total does not include donations to some nonprofits that are based in multiple cities, also final 2023 totals not available).
So how do you make a donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the Pick.Click.Give. program? First, starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1, go fill out your Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. When you get to the section of the application asking if you want to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link and search for the Sitka Local Foods Network. You also can look for us by using the town search for Sitka.
The Pick.Click.Give. program is available only to people who file their PFD applications online, and not to those who file by mail. Even though you can’t file a new PFD application after March 31, you can go back into your application and update your Pick.Click.Give. donations through Aug. 31 each year.
You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2024 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408-D Marine St., Sitka, Alaska, 99835. You also can donate online by going to our online fundraising page on MightyCause.com, and clicking the Donate button to make an online contribution. In addition, there is an online giving page through the PayPal Giving Fund. If you are trying to make nonprofit donations before the end of the 2023 tax year, you can mail in a check or make an online donation. Please let us know if you need a receipt for tax purposes. For more information about donating, you can send an email to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.
Thank you for supporting our mission of increasing the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack on Dec. 7, 2023, announced the first grant recipients under the Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program, as well as advances in Forest Service co-stewardship with Tribes. More than $7 million will support tribal nations in Alaska. The Sitka Conservation Society received one of the grants.
Secretary Vilsack made the announcements at the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit, where Tribal leaders gathered for nation-to-nation conversations with President Biden and senior administration officials on key priorities, new policies, and critical issues facing tribal nations.
The Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor is receiving a $1 million grant to buy and modernize an unused processing facility that will help the community address food shortages due to climate change. Members of the tribe live in a remote village accessible only by boat or small plane. Severe weather can delay food deliveries, and algae are depleting fishing stocks. The funding will allow the tribe to increase the amount of local game and fish they can process using traditional methods. This includes meat from the Sitkalidak bison herd the tribe manages.
The Tribal Government of St. Paul Island is receiving a grant of more than $668,000 to re-establish a local reindeer meat processing operation at the Aleut Community Store. The Aleut community will use the grant to develop a program to harvest, process, market and sell local reindeer products. The project will increase the availability of locally sourced organic meat products and drive profits back to the island. It also will help tribal members remember, relearn, and practice traditional herding techniques important to the cultural heritage of the island.
At the Summit, Secretary Vilsack announced a partnership with the Sitka Conservation Society to create a new curriculum to educate rural citizens, especially Alaska Native Youth about the Federal Subsistence Management Board, which manages fish and wildlife for subsistence uses on federal public lands and waters in Alaska. The Sitka Conservation Society will receive $300,000 through a cooperative agreement to support this endeavor.
“Subsistence and traditional and customary resources are extremely important to the people of Southeast Alaska,” Sitka Conservation Society Executive Director Andrew Thomas said. “The forest and waters provide food that takes care of families and households throughout the year. Ensuring that the fish, animals, shellfish, kelp, plants, fungi, and everything else that is harvested and gathering is managed and protected in ways that support the long-term opportunities for us to use and depend on these resources across generations is essential for food sovereignty and food security in rural communities across Southeast Alaska. This program will help educate the next generation of Southeast Alaskans on how they can participate in the stewardship of these natural resources through the federal subsistence management program, which is critical for ensuring that the food resources and traditions that have long supported communities to thrive in Alaska will continue to do so in the future.”
In 2023, the Forest Service signed 120 new co-stewardship agreements, and nearly tripled annual co-stewardship investments with tribal communities. These co-stewardship agreements incorporate Indigenous knowledge such as traditional plant management and ethnobotany, cultural interpretation, and traditional land stewardship methodologies and techniques.
These agreements mark important milestones in relationship-building with tribal governments and are significant advancements in the co-stewardship of the ancestral lands of tribal nations. Alaska’s first co-stewardship agreement is:
Co-stewardship of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area: The Forest Service and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida have implemented a Memoranda of Understanding on co-stewardship of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. This agreement will ensure that the history and cultural connection tribes have to the glacier and the surrounding lands are represented through cooperative interpretive programs.
Coinciding with the White House Tribal Nations Summit, Secretary Vilsack, the Chair and Ranking member of Senate Indian Affairs, and the House and Senate Agricultural Committees named 11 new members to the inaugural USDA Tribal Advisory Committee. This is a permanent committee created by the 2018 Farm Bill to ensure Tribal perspectives are well represented at USDA and to ensure the Department’s policies and decisions are informed by the unique Nation-to-Nation relationship.
Sarah Lewis of the University of Alaska FairbanksCooperative Extension Service will teach a series of online Preserving Alaska’s Bounty classes about home food preservation. The classes will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons, Jan. 7, Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, and Feb. 4 using Zoom. For more information, or to register, please visit bit.ly/PAB2024.
This course is designed to lead students through a series of food preservation methods, building on food safety knowledge and the development of skills for use in the home. Each module will start with a live lesson, instructing students on the topic and outlining the assignments to be completed for the module.
After completion of all modules, students will have both the knowledge and the experience to confidently continue preserving food in their homes. There is an optional exam available for participants who wish to become Food Preservation Educators within their home community.
There are important, but simple, food safety considerations when preserving food at home. In Alaska we preserve a variety of wild harvested meats, vegetables, fruits, and berries to ensure food security and nutrition through the non-harvest seasons. Alaskans also preserve their garden harvests for the winter months.
The preservation methods you will learn about (and practice in your own kitchen throughout this course) include: pickling and fermenting vegetables; boiling water-bath canning of fruits, berries, and pickles; pressure canning of meat, fish, and vegetables; dehydration of fruits and vegetables; making jerky; smoking fish. Other topics will include emergency preparedness, how to start a Cottage Foods business, and information about wild harvested plants. At the end of this course, students will feel confident that they have gained the skills necessary to safely preserve foods for the benefit of their household.
Those students who wish to receive a certificate of course completion and become a Food Preservation Educator within their home community may do so by attending all sessions, completing all assignments, and passing a final exam. Students who wish to become Food Preservation Educators must complete all assignments and pass a final exam to receive a certificate of completion.
Participants must be 16 or older (unless joining a household adult). The registration deadline is Sunday, Dec. 31. A course fee of $150 per household or Zoom connection includes one class textbook, which will be mailed to students. A 50-percent reduction is available if requested. The Preserving Alaska’s Bounty series will be taught by Sarah Lewis, an agent with the University of Alaska FairbanksCooperative Extension Service‘s Juneau District Office. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made 10 business days in advance of the Jan. 7 start, to sarah.lewis@alaska.edu.
This event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 19, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, with doors opening at 5 p.m. All are welcome to attend. Please bring a dish featuring local wild foods to share.
Sitka Local Foods Network 
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