December 23, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Pacific High School receives national recognition for locally sourced school lunches

Pacific High freshman Oleana Valley makes lunch for her classmates as AmeriCorps volunteer Abby Long plans future recipes. (KCAW photo/Emily Forman)

The Pacific High School lunch program, which recently received statewide recognition in the 2013 Alaska Farm To School Challenge, now is receiving national attention for its locally sourced school lunches.

The student lunches from the Sitka alternative high school recently were featured in an article in USA Today about what America’s school lunches look like.

They also were featured in a KCAW-Raven Radio story about the recent recognition. The KCAW article touched on how much the students gained by picking locally sourced ingredients from Sitka over box-packaged items to make their food.

December 19, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference in Sitka

Friday, Dec. 20, is the registration deadline for a certified food protection manager workshop being taught on Wednesday, Jan. 15, by University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. This is an all-day statewide class that will be offered live in Fairbanks and Palmer, and by videoconferencing to Sitka and Kotzebue.

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 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a half-hour lunch), and participants will take a computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time for the class. The cost is $175, and the course will be taught by Kate Idzorek of Fairbanks and Julie Cascio of Palmer. Students can register here.

The Sitka videoconference for the class will take place in Room 110 at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. To learn more, contact the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440, or contact Kate Idzorek at 907-474-5391 (toll-free, 1-877-520-5211) or kjidzorek@alaska.edu in Fairbanks.

December 12, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Food Co-op looking to hire a part-time general manager to start in March

The Sitka Food Co-op is looking to hire its first general manager. The general manager position will be part time, about 25-30 hours per month, with the job to start in March.

The main duties of the general manager include coordinating and overseeing co-op orders and deliveries, while meeting the goals and objectives of the co-op as established by the board of directors and members. Other tasks include working with the volunteer coordinator, monitoring the co-op’s ongoing operations (including technology, facilities and equipment), and communicating any problems or other concerns back to the board of directors. This will be the co-op’s first paid staff member.

The Sitka Food Co-op is a community-based, member-owned and operated cooperative that believes in “Nourishing the community by focusing on value while providing healthy foods and quality products.” The co-op currently serves more than 110 local households and businesses in Sitka, and is growing monthly. According to the co-op’s ad, “This is a wonderful opportunity for an energetic person committed to cooperative values and principles, likes to work from home, and is interested in ‘Bringing good food and community together.'”

Incorporated in September 2011, the purposes of the Sitka Food Co-op are to:

Create a community-based, member-owned buying service;
Make available wholesome natural and organic foods and products as inexpensively as possible;
Support and encourage local growing of fresh organic foods;
Purchase and purvey, whenever feasible, the goods or services of local and regional growers; and
Serve as a center for activities and services which otherwise enrich the life of the community.

The position features a salary and benefits package based on experience, and incentive packages mutually agreed upon by the board and general manager. The job features a six-month trial period. Applicants should have a basic knowledge of Word, Excel, Quickbooks and Google Drive. The hiring of new general manager is part of the Sitka Food Co-op’s new strategic plan adopted in November 2013.

To apply, please submit a letter of interest, resume and three employment references with full contact information to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com. Applications also can be mailed to Sitka Food Co-op, P.O. Box 6407, Sitka, Alaska, 99835. A job description is posted below, as well on the co-op’s website. Applications are due by Jan. 15, 2014.

• Sitka Food Co-op general manager job description

November 30, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Conservation Society to host annual Wild Foods Potluck on Dec. 8 at Sweetland Hall

Help Sitka celebrate its wonderful bounty of local and wild foods by joining the Sitka Conservation Society for its annual Wild Foods Potluck from 5-7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Sweetland Hall on the Sheldon Jackson Campus.

This annual event features a variety of wild foods that can be harvested around Sitka, including many varieties of fish, deer, ducks, berries, seaweed, beach greens, and more. This event gives local residents a chance to sample a multitude of wild food dishes for a true taste of Sitka. If you don’t have any wild foods, just garnish your dish with a local plant.

“Bring a dish that features ingredients from the outdoors and meet others interested in subsistence foods and the conservation field,” said the Sitka Conservation Society’s Ray Friedlander, who is helping coordinate the event. “Your dish could win a prize if you enter it into the Best Dish, Best Side, and Best Dessert category.”

This event is non-alcoholic, and it is open to all residents of Sitka, including members and non-members of the Sitka Conservation Society. For more information, contact Ray Friedlander or Mary Wood at the Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509, or go to http://www.sitkawild.org/.

November 25, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Pacific High School wins recognition in 2013 Alaska Farm to School Challenge

Pacific High School student chefs (from left) Allana Carlos, Walter Borbridge, and Justin Tucker

Pacific High School of Sitka is an Alaska Farm to School Challenge prize-winner after serving a local lunch this October. The meal highlighted coho salmon sourced through the Sitka Conservation Society’s Fish to Schools program along with Sitka-grown produce and biscuits made from Alaska-grown barley flour.

In celebration of National Farm to School Month this October, the Alaska Division of Agriculture presented the 2013 Alaska Farm to School Challenge. The challenge encouraged schools and community members to highlight projects and activities that bring foods produced or grown in Alaska into schools. These projects underlined a broader goal of promoting the benefits of increasing procurement of Alaskan foods for use in schools.

Pacific High School’s cooking class prepared the meal for students, staff and visitors on Oct. 24. The class is part of the alternative high school’s Healthy Lunch, Healthy Lives program, which provides students with the tools and knowledge to incorporate wellness into their everyday lives through culinary arts, nutrition, and gardening education.

For more information on this program or Pacific High School’s efforts to increase sourcing of local products, contact Sarah Ferrency at ferrencys@sitkaschools.org.

November 20, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Food Co-op to host all-day planning workshop on Saturday, Nov. 23

Are you interested in helping the Sitka Food Co-op develop its short- and long-term plans? Then come join us in an all-day planning workshop from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Fireside Room at the First Presbyterian Church, 505 Sawmill Creek Rd.

This workshop will be facilitated by Lisa Sadleir-Hart, board president of the Sitka Local Foods Network and project coordinator of the Sitka Community Food Assessment. Workshop participants will create an action plan for the co-op’s next five years, as well as developing the co-op’s vision and priorities.

Sitka Food Co-op Board Chair Keith Nyitray said, “Topics to be covered include whether we need a paid “general manager” position, whether and/or when to conduct a feasibility study about opening a retail store-front, starting home-deliveries, submitting paperwork to accept WIC, whether to switch incorporation to a non-profit status or not, moving toward establishing a two-tiered membership system, bulk buying and/or member equity sharing, and more.”

According to the Co-op’s website, the purposes of the Sitka Food Co-op are to:

Create a community-based, member-owned buying service;
Make available wholesome natural and organic foods and products as inexpensively as possible;
Support and encourage local growing of fresh organic foods;
Purchase and purvey, whenever feasible, the goods or services of local and regional growers and producers; and
Serve as a center for activities and services which otherwise enrich the life of the community.

This workshop is open to everyone, including non-members, but please RSVP by Nov. 21 at sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com. There will be a potluck lunch, so please bring a dish to share. To learn more about the Sitka Food Co-op, go to http://sitkafoodcoop.org/.

October 13, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the 19th annual Running of the Boots

The 19th annual Running of the Boots costumed fun run fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network took place on Saturday, Sept. 28, as part of the End-Of-Season Celebration.

This year the race had a new course, starting in front of St. Michael the Archangel Russian Orthodox Cathedral and heading out Lincoln Street before looping onto Harbor Drive near City Hall and finishing on Maksoutov Street. There also were prizes for costumes, a table with late-season produce from the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, a band, and more.

A slideshow of scenes from the race follows below:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

October 1, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Don’t forget to vote for the Sitka Local Foods Network in the 50 States for Good contest

Did you vote today? Please help the Sitka Local Foods Network win a $10,000 grant to continue its work on food security and local foods issues in Sitka, Alaska, by voting for us in the fifth annual Tom’s of Maine 50 States for Good contest.

There is one finalist per state (we are Alaska’s representative), and the top 15 vote-getters each get $10,000 to continue their work. But we need to be in the top 15 to win anything. If we win, we will use the money to expand community gardens, improve the Sitka Farmers Market, and support other local foods projects right here in Sitka.

You can vote by going to http://www.50statesforgood.com/ and following the instructions (we’re listed under Alaska). You can vote once per day, and voting goes from Sept. 16 through Oct. 15. Please share this with your friends, so they can vote too. Thanks.‪ #‎50statesforgood‬ ‪#‎sitkalocalfoodsnetwork‬ ‪#‎sitka‬ ‪#‎alaska‬

For more information, go to https://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/2013/09/16/%E2%80%A2-sitka-local-foods-network-named-alaskas-lone-finalist-in-50-states-for-good-contest/

September 30, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Seafood Festival announces new director; will host art auction on Saturday, Oct. 5

(The following letter to the editor originally appeared on Page 2 of the Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel. It is reprinted here with the writer’s permission.)

The fifth annual Sitka Seafood Festival (SSF) is scheduled for Aug. 1-2, 2014. The festival continues to grow each year. This past year we brought in more than 100 out-of-own guests, had some national recognition from a couple of well-known culinary magazines, and continued to have more and more local support.

Over the past four years, we have had a small group of volunteers working extremely hard to follow through with our mission statement, to “celebrate wild Alaskan seafood.” We have done this through education, such as bringing in amazing speakers such as a 2012 McArthur Genius Award-winner David Montgomery, and accomplished author, professor and chef Becky Selengut to offer free presentations to the public. We also started the new culinary scholarship award this past year which we hope will continue to grow to give a passionate future culinary artist more experience and funds to pursue their career further.

We offer entertainment, including local and headliner bands such as the well-known band Trampled by Turtles, aerial silk dancers, Ninja acrobatics, and of course, the addition of the Scottish Highland Games and this past year the full- and half-marathon. But, even with all the other fun events going on, the focus of our festival is based around celebrating the culinary aspect of our amazing, local seafood products.

Carolyn Kinneen

I am writing this letter today to introduce you to the new director and co-directors of the Sitka Seafood Festival. I am so extremely excited with the potential of where this festival can go. If anyone gets the pleasure to meet our new directors, I think they will share in my enthusiasm, because these folks encompass what this festival is all about, and I think it can only get better from here! The 2014 SSF Director is Carolyn Kinneen, along with co-directors Jeren Schmidt and Robert Kinneen. All past board members, including myself, are staying active with the festival.

Carolyn Kinneen is wife to our four-time returning guest chef Robert Kinneen, and has been active in the festival since the start. She currently lives in Anchorage, but with the help of our local co-director, Jeren Schmidt, should be a wonderful fit. Carolyn works in many different areas of food-related advocacy and policy, and sits on multiple boards pertaining to Alaskan-based foods. She has experience in running a large array of projects including the TEDx Anchorage lecture series, as well as the Alaska Food Policy Council.

We are very excited to have Carolyn on board. If anyone would like to hear more about Carolyn, or pick her’s or any other board member’s brains about the future SSF, we will be holding an open “meet and greet” at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct 4, at Baranof Island Brewing Company (215 Smith St.). Come say hello and welcome Carolyn, Rob and Jeren to their new positions, and feel free to pass along any suggestions, concerns or input you may have.

Thank you for your continued support Sitka! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 5th annual SSF Aug 1-2, 2014. And please attend our upcoming fundraiser, the Live Art Auction with the Fishermen’s Eye Gallery, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct 5, at the Westmark Sitka Hotel.

— Alicia Haseltine, past SSF Director, current board member

September 17, 2013 by Charles Bingham

• Seventh annual Sitka Health Summit helps celebrate a culture of wellness in Sitka

The seventh annual Sitka Health Summit is coming up, and this year’s event features health fair, lunch-and-learn, community planning day and community wellness awards.

This annual event got its start in 2007, when leaders from Sitka Community Hospital and the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) got together to try and build bridges between their health organizations. Working with other partners, they created the Sitka Health Summit as a way to help improve the health culture in Sitka.

This year’s summit opens with the Sitka Community Health Fair, which takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Sweetland Hall on the Sheldon Jackson Campus. This event features workers from the Alaska Health Fair Inc., who will provide a variety of medical tests such as cholesterol checks, glucose tests, vision screenings, flu shots, and more. It also includes informational booths from a variety of health-related programs in Sitka.

At noon on Monday, Sept. 23, at Kettleson Memorial Library will be a lunch-and-learn with Dr. Don Lehmann, a local physician and sports medicine specialist. He will give a brief talk called “Whistle While You Walk,” which will feature highlights about Sitka’s trail system. Participants can enter for a chance to win a set of walking sticks.

The “Community Planning Day: Selecting Sitka’s Wellness Goals” is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, at Sweetland Hall. This all-day event is when members of the community get together and select two community wellness projects to work on this year. The two projects will receive $1,500 in seed money, plus facilitation to help get the project going. Last year’s three winning projects included the Sitka Downtown Revitalization project, Walk Sitka‘s work in applying for a Walk Friendly Communities award, and the Sitka Community Food Assessment. Some of the top projects from previous years include the Sitka Bicycle Friendly Community award applications in 2008 and 2012, the Choose Respect mural at Blatchley Middle School to raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence, the Sitka Outdoor Recreation Coalition’s Get Out, Sitka! project to get more families and kids outdoors, supporting the Hames Athletic and Wellness Center as a community resource, etc. There also have been several projects related to local foods, such as creating a Sitka Farmers Market, expanding community gardens and building a community greenhouse, planting dozens of fruit trees around town, promoting more local fish in school lunches, community composting,, and more. The first 65 people to RSVP will receive a free lunch (contact Clara Gray at clara.gray@searhc.org).

Finally, this year’s Sitka Community Wellness Champion Awards will be presented as part of the Monthly Grind at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Sheet’ká Kwáan Naa Kahídi on Katlian Street. The awards are made in a variety of categories, such as physical fitness, nutrition, tobacco control and policy, holistic health, injury prevention, and general wellness.

For more information, call Doug Osborne at 966-8734 or go to the Sitka Health Summit’s website at http://www.sitkahealthsummitak.org/.