July 17, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the second Sitka Farmers Market of the 2016 summer

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Anna Wane, Tamie Parker-Song and Heather Hanson pose with some of the produce from Heather’s and Alli’s Garden. This was one of the new booths at the market this week.

The wind was blustery, but it didn’t rain when we held the second of the seven Sitka Farmers Markets of the 2016 summer on Saturday, July 16, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall.

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Andrea Fraga and Kaleb Aldred of Middle Island Organic Produce, another of the new booths at the market this week.

We had several new vendors at this market, but not as many customers as usual. We had four booths selling produce, two selling beach greens, another selling homemade bread, another with homemade tamales, and even some frybread.

We always welcome new vendors who want to sell produce they’ve grown, fish they’ve caught, and local cottage food products they’ve made. To learn more about how to be a vendor, contact Matthew Jackson at (907) 821-1412 or jackson.mw08@gmail.com or Brandie Cheatham at (907) 687-9927 or vista_brandie@yahoo.com.

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Jeren Schmidt of Sitka Spruce Catering dishes up a homemade tamale for a customer.

The next Sitka Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, at the ANB Founders Hall. The other markets this summer are on Saturdays, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10. The Sitka Farmers Markets receive sponsorship funding from the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). Don’t forget to vote for the Sitka Farmers Market in the American Farmland Trust’s eighth annual Farmers Market Celebration.

A slideshow of scenes from the second Sitka Farmers Market of the 2016 summer is below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

July 3, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2016 summer

After raining the night before, we ended up with some sun when we held the first of the seven Sitka Farmers Markets of the 2016 summer on Saturday, July 2, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall.

The market was a bit smaller than usual, partially because of competition with the Fourth of July booths at Baranof Elementary School and because of our attempts to refocus the market to put more of an emphasis on local food. We did have some new vendors at the market, and there were a couple of discussions from potential vendors asking about space at the next market.

Jessica Gill was one of our new vendors this market with Marco’s Munchies dog treats.

The next Sitka Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, at the ANB Founders Hall. The other markets this summer are on Saturdays, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10. The Sitka Farmers Markets receive sponsorship funding from the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). Don’t forget to vote for the Sitka Farmers Market in the American Farmland Trust’s eighth annual Farmers Market Celebration.

A slideshow of scenes from the first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2016 summer is below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

July 1, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Check out the July 2016 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2016 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about the Sitka Farmers Market opening on Saturday, changes to the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors, a student-built school garden at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, and info about several sh. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form 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.

June 30, 2016 by Charles Bingham

What you put #OnMyFork matters during eighth annual Farmers Market Celebration

What you put #OnMyFork matters. That’s the message behind American Farmland Trust’s eighth annual Farmers Market Celebration. The celebration calls on shoppers to help identify the cream of the crop — the best of America’s farmers markets — and in Alaska we think that’s the Sitka Farmers Market.

The celebration calls on shoppers to help identify the best of America’s farmers markets. The summer-long event launched June 20 and runs through Sept. 21. The first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2016 summer is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. The other six Sitka Farmers Markets this summer are on Saturdays, July 16, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10.

“The Celebration encourages market customers, family farmers, community activists – anyone who believes they’ve got the best farmers market in the country – to endorse their market in four special areas: Focus on Farmers, Healthy Food for All, Pillar of the Community, and Champion for the Environment,” said Susan Sink, American Farmland Trust vice president of development and external relations.

Shoppers are encouraged to use Instagram and join the local food community in saving farmland with their forks, as part of AFT’s “#OnMyFork” social media campaign. Supporters are encouraged to post pictures or videos of their farmers market to Instagram using the hashtag #OnMyFork. If you do post something about the Sitka Farmers Market, please tag our Sitka Local Foods Network page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/SitkaLocalFoodsNetwork or share it on our Twitter page, https://www.twitter.com/SitkaLocalFoods. Please use the hashtags #SitkaLocalFoodsNetwork and #SitkaFarmersMarket if you share a photo.

“While farmers markets have been growing in popularity, keeping family farmers on farmland remains a nationwide challenge,” Sink says. “Many family farmers are struggling to stay financially afloat and face daily pressure from development to sell their land. Farmers markets provide a wonderful opportunity for family farmers to sell directly to consumers and to help make a living on their land.”

Farmers markets have a lot to offer. Beyond the beautiful array of fresh and local food, farmers markets help family farmers thrive, connect us as a community and can be catalysts for both environmental and social good. That is why American Farmland Trust is giving away awards to farmers markets who are the Best in Class in four special areas — Focus on Farmers, Healthy Food for All, Pillar of the Community, and Champion for the Environment.

If you have ever been to the Sitka Farmers Market, you may already know that they are the gold standard for farmers markets in these areas. If you haven’t been to the market before, here are a few reasons why the Sitka Farmers Market deserves to be named one of America’s top markets:

Focus on Farmers — The Sitka Local Foods Network, which sponsors the Sitka Farmers Market, has been working with local gardeners and small farmers to increase the amount of locally grown fruits and veggies in Sitka. Not only is locally grown food fresher and better tasting, but it’s better on the environment because it doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to get to Alaska.
Healthy Food for All — The Sitka Farmers Market was the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska to accept SNAP (food stamps/Alaska Quest cards) and WIC vouchers for people benefitting from those programs. In addition, we have matching dollars of up to $20 per person per market available for SNAP-eligible foods (produce, fish, baked goods, barley products, etc.).
Pillar of the Community — The Sitka Farmers Market not only serves as a community gathering place, but it also is a business incubator. It’s a good place for budding entrepreneurs to test ideas and products before going into full production. The Sitka Farmers Market emphasizes local, local, local, which helps put the focus on products from Sitka.
Champion for the Environment — It’s estimated that Alaska residents import about 90-95 percent of their food from the Lower 48 or foreign countries. By encouraging people to grow or harvest food locally, we’re cutting down on thousands of miles of transportation costs. That means less fuel is used, and fewer pollutants in the air.

To help shine a light on the Sitka Farmers Market, just go to http://markets.farmland.org/market/sitka-farmers-market/ and recommend our market. In past Farmers Market Celebrations, sponsored by the American Farmland Trust, the Sitka Farmers Market has been at or near the top among the Alaska rankings. In 2015, the Sitka Farmers Market was the top Alaska market in this contest.

June 30, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Sitka Local Foods Network to host seven Sitka Farmers Markets this summer

Sitka residents might notice a few changes when the Sitka Local Foods Network opens its ninth season of Sitka Farmers Markets this Saturday. For one, there will be more markets — seven instead of the six markets hosted in recent years. Another change is a more compact market, with a revised vendor price structure and fewer special programs that put the emphasis back on local foods.

“The Sitka Farmers Market is a community gathering as much as it is a market,” said Matthew Jackson, newly installed president of the Sitka Local Foods Network and co-manager of the Sitka Farmers Market this year with Brandie Cheatham. “It’s a great way to connect with your neighbors and support local entrepreneurs. In Alaska we know all about the leaky bucket effect, so shopping at the Sitka Farmers Market is a way to keep money circulating in our community.”

The first Sitka Farmers Market of the season takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.). The other markets this summer take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 16, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10, at ANB Founders Hall.

The markets feature a variety of locally grown produce, locally harvested seafood, locally manufactured cottage foods, locally made arts and crafts, music and fun. The Sitka Farmers Market was the first market in Southeast Alaska to accept Alaska Quest (SNAP) electronic benefits transfers (EBT) and WIC coupons.

“For the last four seasons we’ve been proud to welcome Alaska Quest EBT and WIC shoppers at the market,” Jackson said. “It is so important to make sure local food is accessible to everyone.”

The second Sitka Health Summit in April 2008 planted the seeds for the Sitka Farmers Market, as Sitka residents chose starting a local foods market as one of their community wellness initiatives for the year. About the same time, St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church was looking for a way to put some recently cleared land behind the church’s See House into use for a community project. St. Peter’s offered to lease the land to the group that became the Sitka Local Foods Network for $1 a year, and in May 2008 a group of Sitka residents built raised garden beds and planted a variety of crops. Later that summer, there was enough produce grown at St. Peter’s to supply our first three Sitka Farmers Markets starting in August 2008.

We grew to five markets in 2009, followed by six markets each year from 2010-15 and now seven markets in 2016. Led by lead gardener Laura Schmidt, the production of local produce at St. Peter’s has grown each year, and there now are satellite gardens, such as the one on land owned by Pat Arvin. Most of the food grown at St. Peter’s and the satellite gardens is sold at the Sitka Farmers Market, but there has been enough for the Sitka Local Foods Network to also have a table when Chelan Produce is in town and to sell to local school lunch programs and restaurants. The money raised helps support the Sitka Local Foods Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in its mission “to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans.”

To learn more about the Sitka Farmers Market and how you can become a vendor, contact Matthew Jackson at (907) 821-1412 or jackson.mw08@gmail.com. The Sitka Local Foods Network website, http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/, also has more info on the markets and links to vendor forms. The Sitka Farmers Market is sponsored by the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC).

June 1, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Check out the June 2016 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the June 2016 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about a couple of Sitka commercial trollers starting the Edible Alaska magazine, our recruiting new board members, the dates for the 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets, the second batch of classes for the garden mentor program, and a recent shellfish advisory issued for several beaches in Southeast Alaska. Each story has links to our website for more information.

May 2, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Check out the May 2016 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the May 2016 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about our recruiting new board members, the dates for the 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets, the first classes for the garden mentor program, a garden party at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and a reminder to Plant A Row for the Hungry. Each story has links to our website for more information.

April 14, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Sitka Local Foods Network recruiting new board members and other volunteers

The 2015 Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors. Front row, from left, Alli Gabbert, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, and Jennifer Carter. Middle row, from left, Maybelle Filler and Michelle Putz. Back row, from left, Charles Bingham, Brandie Cheatham, Matthew Jackson, and Beth Kindig. Our 2016 board of directors (no picture available) is President Michelle Putz, Vice President Matthew Jackson, Treasurer Kathy Jones, Secretary Brandie Cheatham, Charles Bingham, Jennifer Carter, Edith Johnson, Chris Todd, and Wendy Lawrence.

Are you concerned about increasing access to local food for all Sitka residents? Are you worried about rising food prices in Sitka, or do you want to advocate for more community gardens in Sitka?

Due to the unforeseen upcoming loss of two board members this summer, please consider joining the board of directors for the Sitka Local Foods Network to help us finish out the 2016 calendar year. We also are trying to build up a pool of possible replacements for this winter when we have three of our nine board spots up for reapplication.

Board members help direct the Sitka Local Foods Network, a non-profit that promotes the harvest and use of local food in Sitka. In addition to setting the focus of the group during our monthly meetings, board members also serve on at least one committee supporting at our three main projects of the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and garden education and mentoring. In addition, some board members have supported other local foods projects in Sitka, such as the Sitka Kitch, Blatchley Community Garden, Let’s Grow Sitka, the Sick-A-Waste compost project, the Sitka Community Food Assessment project, Sitka Fish-To-Schools, other school education projects and more.

To apply for a spot on the board, please fill out the application linked below and submit it to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.org. For more information, please email us. Please note this is a working board, and our group is evolving and maturing as we try to raise funds to hire staff. Board terms are for three years, with three seats up for reapplication each winter.

We also are looking to increase our pool of volunteers who will help out during the various projects hosted by the network each year (no formal application needed, just send us your name/contact info and what types of projects you enjoy). We need volunteers to help with the upcoming Sitka Farmers Market, helping our lead gardener at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and helping us teach gardening classes or working with our garden mentor program families.

The next Sitka Local Foods Network board meeting is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10 (Note: this is a change from our usual meeting date), at the See House behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church (611 Lincoln St.). The board usually meets from 6:30-8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month, with a short finance committee meeting at 6 p.m. on alternate months. Please note, we may be changing our meeting dates in the near future.

Click here for a copy of the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors job description. Click here for a copy of the board application.

April 2, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Sitka Farmers Market vendor registration information for 2016 now available

Registration for the 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets is open, and vendors looking to sell local food, arts and crafts, and other items at the markets can find all the vendor forms, information sheets, rules and regulations for this year by going to the Documents page on this site, or look at the bottom of this post for the documents. The forms include information about how to register your table for this year’s markets.

The 2016 Sitka Farmers Market manager will be hired soon, and he/she can be reached at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or 738-8683 during the market season. The tentative dates for our 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on seven Saturdays — July 2, July 16, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10 — at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall at 235 Katlian Street.

The Sitka Local Foods Network already held two pre-market meetings to discuss market changes for potential vendors, and we may hold additional meetings as we get closer to the market season. Most of the info about changes is in the 2016 Vendor Rules and Responsibilities document. This document also includes information about commercial kitchens in Sitka and other helpful hints to make your booth more successful, plus it has your registration form for this year.

Sitka Local Foods Network board liaison Matthew Jackson is available to answer questions and to make suggestions that will help new and returning vendors adjust to any food regulation changes from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, updates to the Alaska Quest electronic benefits program, etc.

There are several changes to the 2016 rules and responsibilities, so please read them carefully. For more information, contact Sitka Farmers Market board liaison Matthew Jackson at (907) 821-1412 or jackson.mw08@gmail.com, or you can email the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms

• 2016 Vendor Rules and Responsibilities (with Registration Form, updated March 30, 2016)

• Link to 2015 Farmers Market Resource Fact Sheets from Alaska Division of Agriculture

• 2015 City and Borough of Sitka Sales Tax Form for Sitka Farmers Market Vendors

• Cottage Food Fact Sheet — “Understanding Alaska’s Cottage Food Exemptions”

• Cottage Food Exemptions

• Washington Farmers Market Vendor Marketing Guide (March 2014)

• Guide to Operating a Successful Home-Based Food Business (March 2014 document from UAF Cooperative Extension Service and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation includes Alaska food safety information and regulations for farmers markets and other food sales)

March 28, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Check out the April 2016 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2016 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about how you can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the 2016 Pick.Click.Give. donation program through the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application (don’t forget the PFD filing deadline is March 31), a March 29 meeting to discuss changes to the Sitka Farmers Market, and an abundance of education opportunities this spring. Each story has links to our website for more information.