traditional foods

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Twelve businesses, including two from Sitka, selected as finalists in Path to Prosperity contest

Andrew Jylkka of the Sitka bakery Southeast Dough Company puts a tray of fresh-baked bread into a rack to cool. His business was one of the 12 finalists in the 2022 Path to Prosperity business development competition.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Path to Prosperity Business Competition has selected this year’s cohort of 12 businesses to advance to the second round of the competition. This year’s list of finalists includes two businesses from Sitka — Laura Tirman of Alpenglow Adventures and Andrew Jylkka of Southeast Dough Company.

Started by Sealaska and The Nature Conservancy in 2013 and administered by Spruce Root Community Development, Path to Prosperity is an award-winning competition for small businesses and start-ups located in Southeast Alaska. The 2022 cycle of the Path to Prosperity competition aims to assist Southeast Alaskan entrepreneurs in contributing to a sustainable and regenerative tourism industry in the region that is community-led and locally owned.

In Round 2 of the competition, finalists will participate in Path to Prosperity’s innovative Business Boot Camp where they will get access to resources, work with mentors, and receive one-on-one consulting to develop their business plans. Two finalists will be selected to win $25,000 each to grow their businesses. The following businesses were selected as this year’s finalists:

  • Business Name, Primary Applicant, Location
  • Alaska Brown Bear Bread Co., Sean Williams, Hoonah
  • Alpenglow Adventures, Laura Tirman, Sitka
  • Costa Brava, Rebecca Kameika, Haines
  • Fathoms Alaska, Seth Bader, Juneau
  • Instant Vintage Photos, Kimberly Pruitt, Skagway
  • New Earth Fungi, Alannah Johnson, Juneau
  • Rooney’s Roost B&B, Caitlin Cardell, Wrangell
  • Scoot AK, Aaron Angerman, Wrangell
  • SEAK Expeditions, Joseph Oesterling, Haines
  • Silverthorn Charters, James Silverthorn, Thorne Bay
  • Southeast Dough Company, Andrew Jylkka, Sitka
  • The Wheelhouse, Pat Blair, Petersburg

From starting Wrangell’s first electric scooter rental company, to offering experiential three-week canoe trips for Alaska Native youth, to hosting an inaugural catch-and-release steelhead tournament on Prince of Wales Island, the 2022 Path to Prosperity finalists are defining Southeast Alaska’s visitor industry, creating jobs, and driving regenerative economic growth.

“Sustaining healthy communities in the 21st century means translating Indigenous knowledge, community resilience, and collaborative adaptability into sustainable jobs and innovative economic opportunities,” Spruce Root Executive Director Alana Peterson said. “The Path to Prosperity Competition supports the type of place-based economic development where locally owned and operated businesses are given support to be successful and to develop products and services that solve some of our greatest challenges in the region. A total of 23 entrepreneurs from eight communities applied to Round 1 of Path to Prosperity in 2022.”

While the majority of finalist businesses are involved in the visitor industry, there were some food businesses, such as Southeast Dough Company, to make the finals. Southeast Dough Company is a bakery based in Sitka that specializes in sourdough bread and other fermented products. Jylkka and Southeast Dough Company also won the 2020 Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest.

“Participating in Path to Prosperity will help me bring the vision of Southeast Dough Company into clearer focus,” Jylkka said. “It will help me refine my goals and build my skillset to grow this business in a sustainable way.” 

Sitka’s other finalist, Alpenglow Adventures, will connect tourists with Sitka in a meaningful way by offering multi-day active adventures that include hiking, biking, kayaking, culture, food, art, and more. Alpenglow Adventures will work with and support existing local businesses by incorporating these businesses in the multi-day itineraries sold to guests as a package deal.

According to the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, regenerative tourism is a holistic approach to tourism that proactively works to improve ecosystems, elevate local economies, and promote meaningful and responsible visitor experiences. Authentic local representation, deep community involvement, and practical and innovative steps for conserving and enhancing the environment are central to this approach.

Over 10 competition cycles, Path to Prosperity has received more than 320 applications from Southeast Alaskan small business owners and entrepreneurs across 23 communities. The program has trained 122 finalists at Business Boot Camp and awarded 19 winners $610,000 to build their local businesses. All the participants have been trained in the “triple-bottom-line” approach to building a business by learning to measure their profitability as well as the environmental and social impacts of their business. In recent years, competition winners include Skyaana Coffee Co. (Klawock); Barnacle Foods (Juneau); Foundroot (Haines); Village Coffee Company (Yakutat); Kasaan Arts, Museum & Canoes (Kasaan); and more.

This program is supported by The Edgerton Foundation, Sealaska, USDA, Opportunity Finance Network, The Nature Conservancy, Wells Fargo, Oweesta Corporation, The Sustainable Southeast Partnership, Avista Foundation, Kensington Mine, AK Litho, Elgee Rehfeld, and Alaska Brewing. Spruce Root is grateful for their contributions.

Path to Prosperity is a Spruce Root program. Spruce Root provides local entrepreneurs with access to business development and financial resources in the form of loan capital, business coaching, workshops, and competitions. Together, these programs drive a regenerative economy across Southeast Alaska so communities can forge futures grounded in this uniquely Indigenous place. To learn more about Path to Prosperity or Spruce Root’s other services, visit their website at www.spruceroot.org or email grow@spruceroot.org.

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Sitka Tribe of Alaska hosts subsistence herring egg distribution survey

The fisheries department at Sitka Tribe of Alaska is trying to better understand the distribution networks for the cultural and traditional resources used here in Southeast Alaska.

A request from STA fisheries biologist Kyle Rosendale: “Sitka Tribe of Alaska is asking anyone interested in herring eggs to fill out this brief survey to better understand the distribution of herring eggs and the needs of communities around the state. Respondents will be entered into a drawing for up to $300. Please share the survey with anyone who might be interested. Gunalchéesh!“

All surveys are confidential. If you have any questions, please email Kyle directly at kyle.rosendale@sitkatribe-nsn.gov.

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Scenes from the first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2022 summer

PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK Sitka Farmers Market volunteer Shannon Cellan, center, presents the Table of the Day Award for July 2 to Harriet, left, and Ron McClain of Fish Bone Studios. Harriet and Ron sold local books, pottery, and other items. They received a Sitka Local Foods Network tote bag, two Sitka Farmers Market special label Theobroma chocolate bars, a jar of Barnacle BBQ sauce, a jar of Foraged & Found kelp salsa, and a bottle of Moosetard Lead Dog BBQ sauce. The next Sitka Farmers Market is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street). Vendors can register online (by Thursday on market week) at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com. More details about the Sitka Local Foods Network and Sitka Farmers Market can be found at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.

Sunny skies and hot weather greeted the first Sitka Farmers Market of its 15th summer. This market, on Saturday, July 2, saw the market return to its roots at Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, where the first 12 years of markets were held.

We appreciate everybody who made this market season a success, especially all of our vendors, volunteers, and our customers who wore masks to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

We didn’t have as many booths as in previous years, but the smaller markets seemed to have worked. We still had fresh local produce, as well as a variety of Alaska Grown value-added products, local eggs, mushrooms, and arts and crafts. The Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand accepts and matches WIC coupons and SNAP EBT benefits.

Our markets the rest of the season are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 16, 30, Aug. 13, 27, Sept. 10, and 24, at the ANB Founders Hall, 235 Katlian Street. Potential vendors can register and pay their vendor fees by going to https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com. More information about the Sitka Local Foods Network and Sitka Farmers Market can be found at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.

A slideshow of scenes from the first market of the summer is posted below.

  • PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK Sitka Farmers Market volunteer Shannon Cellan, center, presents the Table of the Day Award for July 2 to Harriet, left, and Ron McClain of Fish Bone Studios. Harriet and Ron sold local books, pottery, and other items. They received a Sitka Loccal Foods Network tote bag, two Sitka Farmers Market special label chocolate bars, a jar of Barnacle BBQ sauce, a jar of Foraged & Found kelp salsa, and a bottle of Moosetard Lead Dog BBQ sauce. The next Sitka Farmers Market is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street). Vendors can register online (by Thursday) at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com. More details about the Sitka Local Foods Network and Sitka Farmers Market can be found at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.
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Voting open in 14th annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration

The voting period for the 14th annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration is open and people can go online and support their favorite farmers markets through Sept. 19. After being sponsored under various names by the American Farmland Trust during its early years, this year the Trust is teaming up with the Farmers Market Coalition to host the contest.

They also have increased the prize money, with the top farmers market winning $5,000, second place receiving $2,500, third place $1,500, fourth place $750, and fifth place $250. Only the top three finishers won cash last year, and there was just $5,000 total instead of this year’s $10,000.

Last year, the Sitka Farmers Market was the top market in Alaska again. The Sitka Farmers Market has been the top vote-getter in Alaska for the past five years, and seven of the past eight years. The contest uses online voting, but each email address is only allowed to vote once so people can’t stuff the ballot box. Voting opened on June 20 this year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we made several major changes to the Sitka Farmers Markets in 2020 and some of those are carried forward into 2021. We are trying to return to a semblance of normal in 2022, but we still are watching for more COVID-19 outbreaks.

In 2020, we had a greatly scaled back market, a switch to an online ordering system, a new pick-up event location, and new health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We had a fuller market in 2021, with the market entirely outdoors at a different location to prevent COVID-19 spread. This year we are back at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, where we hosted our first 12 years of markets. While we do have an indoors component this year, people still are encouraged to wear face masks if we are in High or Moderate risk levels to help prevent COVID-19 spread. Even though most Sitka residents have been vaccinated, COVID-19 remains present and there are many variants.

This year we plan seven full markets in our 15th season, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 2, 16, 30, Aug. 13, 27, Sept. 10, and 24, at the ANB Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street) and Baranof Island Housing Authority parking lot next to ANB Hall. Nalani James will manage the markets again this year, with Charles Bingham assisting. At the markets, depending on which vendors register, we plan to have fresh local produce, fish, cottage foods, homemade baked goods, hot food, food trucks, arts and crafts, live music, and more. We added a new online vendor registration website last year, https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com. We also still have our youth vendor program.

Barring the end of the pandemic, all of our volunteers will be wearing masks and gloves to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We ask our customers to wear masks and give people space during the market. We want to encourage community connection and small businesses at the markets, but this is a healthy activity and we don’t want to spread the coronavirus.

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Check out the July 2022 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2022 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the upcoming 2022 Sitka Farmers Market, 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 2022 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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Sitka Local Foods Network prepares to host 15th summer of Sitka Farmers Markets

The Sitka Farmers Market will kick off its 15th summer this Saturday, July 2, when it returns to its roots at Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, its home for its first 12 summers of markets. The first market of the season is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, with six other markets scheduled for the same time on alternate Saturdays, July 16, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 27, Sept. 10, and Sept. 24, at ANB Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street).

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic limited our markets the last two years, forcing us to move and change our formate, we’re happy to be getting back to some normalcy this year,” Sitka Local Foods Network board president Charles Bingham said. “Our seven markets this year will still have some COVID safety measures, such as being held entirely outdoors and encouraging everybody to use face masks. But we will have our usual variety of fresh local produce, fish, homemade baked goods, cottage foods, cooked food, arts and crafts, and more. It will be nice to return to our roots at ANB Founders Hall this summer.”

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. We will try to accommodate as many vendors as possible, but some may need to be outdoors.

The Sitka Farmers Market gots its start from the second Sitka Health Summit, held in April 2008, when Sitka residents chose two food-related community wellness projects to work on for the next year — to create a local foods market and to start a community greenhouse. Later in April, St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church made its backyard available for growing produce, which became St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, and by August the first of three Sitka Farmers Markets was held. Those projects led to the creation of the Sitka Local Foods Network.

After having to relocate for two years due to COVID-19, we are back where we started out. We will have indoor and outdoor spaces, inside ANB Founders Hall and outside in the Baranof Island Housing Authority parking lot next to ANB Founders Hall.

Since COVID-19 is still around, we will require masks inside the ANB Founders Hall when Sitka is at the Moderate/Medium 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.

Last year we launched our online vendor registration website, http://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com, and we will continue to use that this year. Vendors need to register by the Thursday morning before each market to be guaranteed a spot. Tables/booths are $40 each, with a special of $240 (instead of $280) for someone registering for all seven markets before the first one takes place. We also have a youth vendor program, where youth ages 14 or younger can reserve a table for $20 for the full season. Due to Covid and the need for personal space indoors, we are not selling half-tables this year.

Please read the market vendor rules and responsibilities and Covid-19 protocol documents linked below. All vendors using this site to register for the market will be held to these rules. Unless you specify you want to be outside, we will try to find room for you indoors. We are not selling half-tables this year because we need 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 cancellations, 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. This is $5 less than the $40 table fee since we are billed for transaction fees and other expenses. There is no refund if you don’t let us know until after Wednesday.

Nalani James is the Sitka Farmers Market manager this summer (she’s on the left in the photo above). Laura Schmidt (center in photo) 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.

In addition to vendors, we also are looking for volunteers to help us set up the markets, take down the markets, and sell produce at the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand during the market. You can get more information about how to volunteer at this link, https://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/2022/06/15/sitka-local-foods-network-seeks-volunteers-to-help-with-sitka-farmers-markets/.

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.

• 2022 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Rules and Responsibilities

• 2022 Sitka Farmers Market Covid-19 mitigation plan

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Check out the June 2022 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the June 2022 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about a special class on how to start a cottage foods business from the Sitka Kitch, a notice that vendor registration for the 2022 Sitka Farmers Market is open, 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 2022 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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Check out the May 2022 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the May 2022 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the winners of the fifth annual Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, a notice that vendor registration for the 2022 Sitka Farmers Market is open, 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 2022 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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Alaska Food Policy Council seeks members for its Alaska Food System Network

The Alaska Food Policy Council wants organizations and individuals to please join its Alaska Food System Network map. It only takes a few minutes to set up your profile, then you can find connections.

You can join by clicking this link, https://www.akfoodpolicycouncil.org/regional-food-system-participate

Individuals and organizations may add their own profile to our growing network of state-wide food systems assets. Our mapping goal is to clearly show where our food knowledge, skill sets, and tangible resources (like storage and processing) exist across the state.

This could include work in the food supply chain, education, aid and access, production, harvest, knowledge bearing, and more. By joining the statewide network, with some context about how you work in food, you are contributing to a state-wide directory of assets that will be publicly shared.

Joining the network also helps the Alaska Food Policy Council know who is doing what in the state, so we can better connect people with appropriate resources when we receive an inquiry. 

This is part of an 18-month USDA Regional Food System Partnership planning grant coordinated by the Alaska Food Policy Council. The next step will be part of an implementation grant to take the results of all of of the local/regional asset-mapping sessions and use them to build a 10-year state food security plan.

The Sitka Local Foods Network hosted one of the 12-14 regional nodes in this project, which included an asset-mapping workshop on Feb. 19. In Sitka, we hope to use some of the information and connections gathered in today’s workshop to improve our local food security. We also hope to use the information to possibly update the 2014 Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report, which gave us a lot of baseline planning data that now is nearly a decade old.

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Sheet’ká Kwáan to host traditional foods and medicines series

(UPDATED SCHEDULE)

Join Vivian Mork (Yéilk’, T’akdeintaan) and Naomi Michalsen (Kaasei, Wooshkeetaan Toos Hit) — for a series of events sharing traditional plants knowledge, including information on respectful stewardship, harvesting and processing practices. Participants may also help to prepare food and gifts for the Yaaw Koo.éex’ Herring Ceremony (1 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at Harrigan Centennial Hall).

Learn about spring vegetables, spring spices and spring medicinals, such as deer heart, fireweed shoots, fiddleheads, beach lovage, Labrador tea, sea chickweed, salmonberry shoots, dandelions, wild celery, plantain, watermelon berry shoots, popweed, usnea, devil’s club and more.

The Wednesday opening ceremony for the Traditional Foods & Medicine series has been CANCELLED due to weather. Please join us at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 7, at Totem Park instead for a series introduction and plant identification walk. Additional schedule updates are below. Please help us spread the word. Details on what to bring to be prepared have also been added to the event description.

WEDNESDAY, April 6

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

THURSDAY, April 7

10am-Noon @ Totem Park. Series Introduction & Plant ID Walk.

2pm-4pm @ HPR Rec Main Shelter. Harvesting, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

FRIDAY, April 8

10am-Noon @ HPR Rec Main Shelter. Harvesting, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

2pm-4pm @ HPR Rec Main Shelter. Harvesting, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

SATURDAY, April 9

Noon @ Baranof Street Cross Trail Entrance. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

SUNDAY, April 10

Noon @ Baranof Street Cross Trail Entrance. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

TUESDAY, April 12
10am-Noon @ Location TBD. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.
2pm-4pm @ HPR Rec Main Shelter. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.

WEDNESDAY, April 13
10am-Noon @ Location TBD. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.
2pm-4pm @ HPR Rec Main Shelter. Harvest, Processing, Respectful Stewardship Session.