November 17, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the third class in the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking From Scratch series — Gluten-Free Holiday Baking

The third of four classes in the Sitka Kitch‘s Cooking From Scratch lesson series — Gluten-Free Holiday Baking — was held on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Sitka Kitch. In this class, taught by Bridget Kauffman, students learned about baking a variety of gluten-free holiday treats and then made a cinnamon coffee cake.

The class series is coordinated by Lisa Sadleir-Hart, a registered dietitian and certified health educator. She will teach three of the four classes (the first two classes were Beans 101 and Baking Whole-Grain Bread), with Bridget Kauffman teaching the other. All classes will take place at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen (link opens Facebook page) located at the First Presbyterian Church, 505 Sawmill Creek Road. The last class in the series is:

Making yogurt from low-fat powdered milk, 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart— Learn how to make your own yogurt at home.

The Cooking from Scratch series goal is to teach basic cooking skills using high-quality ingredients, and to help Sitkans take back their kitchens and reduce their food budgets. Interested individuals can register at https://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com/ (click on the event title to register, and pay when you attend the class).

Each class is $20, plus a food cost that will be split between all the students in the class. People should pre-register by 8 a.m. on the Saturday before the scheduled class. We need at least six people registered so we can guarantee the class will happen. Since space is limited, if you register and can’t make it, please contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 so someone from the waiting list can be invited to the class.

Also, watch for a variety of new classes coming this spring.

Here is a slideshow of several photos from the third class in the series, Gluten-Free Holiday Baking.

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November 3, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the second class in the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking From Scratch series — Baking Whole-Grain Bread

The second of four classes in the Sitka Kitch‘s Cooking From Scratch lesson series — Baking Whole-Grain Bread — was held on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Sitka Kitch. In this class, students learned how to use the Tassajara bread technique to prepare their dough for baking at home.

The class series is coordinated by Lisa Sadleir-Hart, a registered dietitian and certified health educator. She will teach three of the four classes (the first class on Oct. 19 was Beans 101), with Bridget Kauffman teaching the other. All classes will take place at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen (link opens Facebook page) located at the First Presbyterian Church, 505 Sawmill Creek Road. The future classes include:

Gluten-free holiday baking, 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, taught by Bridget Kauffman — Learn how to bake a variety of holiday treats that are gluten-free.
Making yogurt from low-fat powdered milk, 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart— Learn how to make your own yogurt at home.

Here is a slideshow of several photos from the second class in the series, Baking Whole-Grain Bread.

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October 20, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the first class in the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking From Scratch series — Beans 101

The first of four classes in the Sitka Kitch‘s Cooking From Scratch lesson series — Beans 101 — was held on Monday, Oct. 19, at the Sitka Kitch, and the students learned a variety of ways to cook beans and lentils, including making white bean banana bread, hummus, refried beans, and a couple of types of bean or lentil soup.

The class series is coordinated by Lisa Sadleir-Hart, a registered dietitian and certified health educator. She will teach three of the four classes, with Bridget Kauffman teaching the other. All classes will take place at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen (link opens Facebook page) located at the First Presbyterian Church, 505 Sawmill Creek Road. The future classes include:

Basic whole-grain bread (link opens registration page), 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart — Learn how to bake whole-grain bread using the Tassajara bread technique. Students should bring two bread pans to the class so they can take home loaves of proofed bread ready to bake.
Gluten-free holiday baking, 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, taught by Bridget Kauffman — Learn how to bake a variety of holiday treats that are gluten-free.
Making yogurt from low-fat powdered milk, 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart — Learn how to make your own yogurt at home.

Each class is $20, plus a food cost that will be split between all the students in the class. People should pre-register by 8 a.m. on the Saturday before the scheduled class. We need at least six people registered so we can guarantee the class will happen. If you register and can’t make it, please contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 to let her know.

Here is a slideshow of several photos from the first class in the series, Beans 101.

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October 5, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Kitch to offer ‘Cooking From Scratch’ series of classes

Ever wanted to learn how to cook more and better food for less money?

Join us for a Cooking from Scratch series of cooking classes at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, which is located in the First Presbyterian Church (505 Sawmill Creek Road).

The series will kick off with Beans 101 taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart, MPH, RDN, CHES, who loves the versatility of legumes at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19.

“Beans are a terrific source of low cost protein plus loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber,” Sadleir-Hart said. “Using them regularly not only helps you control your food budget but also improves your health.”

The second Sitka Kitch Cooking from Scratch class is at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, and will focus on basic whole-grain breads (registration link) using the Tassajara bread technique. It also will be taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart.

The third Cooking from Scratch class will focus on gluten-free holiday baking and will be taught at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, by Bridget Kauffman, an extraordinary gluten-free baker in Sitka.

The final class in the fall series will focus on how to make yogurt using nonfat dried milk. It will be offered at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, and it will be taught by Lisa Sadleir-Hart.

Class size is limited so register early. The cost is $20 per class, plus a food fee that will be divided among registered participants. For more information about the class series, call Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.

September 15, 2015 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 (note, Beth Kindig resigned from the board and was replaced by Kathy Jones).

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?

Then consider joining the board of directors for the Sitka Local Foods Network for the 2016 calendar year. Due to the pending retirements of a couple of long-time board members, we are trying to build up a pool of possible replacements to help keep us moving into the future.

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, board members also help on a wide variety of projects such as the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, garden education and mentoring, 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, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.

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).

The next Sitka Local Foods Network board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, 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 second Monday of each month, except during the summer when board members are busy working with the Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden.

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.

July 28, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Local Foods Network receives Strengthening Organizations grant from the Alaska Community Foundation

The Sitka Local Foods Network is one of 15 nonprofits in Alaska — two from Sitka — to earn a “Strengthening Organizations Program” grant from the Alaska Community Foundation.

The 15 grants totaled $75,353, with both Sitka organizations winning $4,600. The Island Institute, which partnered with the Sitka Local Foods Network to produce the Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report in 2014, is the other Sitka organization to be awarded a grant.

The grant-winners “were recognized for their initiative in building internal structures to enhance capacity. Grant proposals ranged from requests for leadership development support, funding for staff to attend conferences, financial management training, digitizing collections for website purposes, and much more,” according to an Alaska Community Foundation press release.

The Sitka Local Foods Network applied for the grant to take a step toward the next level as a growing organization. It plans to use the grant to create a formal fundraising and business plan, with the intent to start putting money aside to hire a part-time staff person to take over some of the group’s day-to-day duties from the volunteer board of directors. Other than a few select positions which are contracted out, such as the Sitka Farmers Market manager and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener, the organization is entirely operated by volunteers.

“That is not sustainable in the long run,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart told the Daily Sitka Sentinel. “We have to start thinking about staffing in the long run, and that requires capital. We’re moving in that direction.” She also said the grant will help the network become “more strategic in how we use precious volunteer energy.”

The Sitka Local Foods Network will work with consultants from the Foraker Group, an organization that provides support and training to Alaska nonprofit organizations, to develop the fundraising and business plan. The grant was written by Matthew Jackson, the board vice-president.

The Alaska Community Foundation’s Strengthening Organizations Program is unique in the funding it makes available to nonprofits, as it focuses on internal capacity building, rather than programs or outreach. This program awards capacity building grants up to $10,000, with typical awards ranging from $3,000-$5,000, to 501(c)(3) nonprofits or equivalent organizations, which may include tribes, schools, churches and local government agencies and programs.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and the next deadline is Sept. 1. The Alaska Community Foundation program staff strongly encourages interested applicants to submit drafts for review a minimum of two weeks before the deadline. For more information or to apply, visit The Alaska Community Foundation at http://alaskacf.org/grants or call (907) 274-6705.

July 27, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• A quick tour of the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen

Sitka Kitch Advisory Team Members, from left, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Kristy Miller, Sarah Lewis, and Dorrie Farrell go through the orientation packet before a recent series of canning and cottage foods classes taught by Lewis.

Did you know Sitka has a community rental commercial kitchen?

The Sitka Kitch, located inside First Presbyterian Church at 505 Sawmill Creek Road, officially opened in March and is available for cottage food businesses needing a commercial kitchen, people wanting to put up their own harvest, cooking and canning classes, and even groups who want to cook a dinner for friends and family that’s too large to hold in someone’s home.

The Sitka Kitch is a rental community commercial kitchen project coordinated by the Sitka Conservation Society, in partnership with the Sitka Local Foods Network, located inside the First Presbyterian Church. The Sitka Kitch was a project from the 2013 Sitka Health Summit designed to improve food security in Sitka while also providing a space for people wanting to get into the cottage food business or wanting to preserve their harvest for storage in the home pantry. Sitka Kitch (Facebook page) officially opened after a series of renovations to make the church kitchen pass Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation commercial kitchen food safety standards.

The Sitka Food Co-op and Everything Organic Sitka regularly use the facility for deliveries and distribution.

Kristy Miller, the facilities manager for First Presbyterian Church, serves as the manager of Sitka Kitch and helps with scheduling and communal supplies. If you are interested in learning more about how to rent the Sitka Kitch, please go to this website, http://www.sitkawild.org/sitka_kitch, and the best way to schedule a rental is by email at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org.

The slideshow below provides a quick tour of the facility.

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July 3, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Farmers Market prepares for eighth summer of fresh, local veggies

PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK
Sitka Local Foods Network board members and supporters pose at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden on Monday. St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm supplies most of the local produce sold at the Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer. The first Sitka Farmers Market of the season is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, 235 Katlian St. The other five Sitka Farmers Market dates are July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12. Pictured are, front row from left, Michelle Putz, Muriel Sadleir-Hart, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, and Kathy Jones. Back row, Matthew Jackson, Jonathan Adler, Peter Gorman, Jud Kirkness, Brandie Cheatham, Mary Therese Thomson, and Laura Schmidt.

Sitka Local Foods Network uses St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and Sitka Farmers Market to improve food security in Sitka

During the stormy months of winter, most people in Sitka aren’t thinking about their gardens. But that’s when St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm Lead Gardener Laura Schmidt is trying to figure out which vegetables to plant in which garden bed, starting seeds, and (if the soil isn’t frozen) amending the soil with seaweed and other nutrients to get an early start on the garden.

As the lead gardener since 2011, a contract position with the Sitka Local Foods Network, Schmidt is responsible for growing most of the fresh, local vegetables sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets each summer. She oversees food production at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, and at an extension garden located at Pat Arvin’s house.

Schmidt and her volunteer gardeners have about 3,000 square feet in production. Last year they grew about 300 pounds of rhubarb and 100 pounds of kale. “That’s a lot of kale,” Schmidt said. Besides kale and rhubarb, they also grow garlic, onions, potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, fava beans, spinach, carrots, beets, nasturtiums, zucchini, cucumbers, and more.

“It’s fun to have it all come together. It’s nice to see it turn into food,” Schmidt said. “It’s a fun puzzle because every year is different, and how do we make it more productive.”

Sitka residents will have a chance to celebrate their independence from store-bought and overly processed food at the first Sitka Farmers Market of the summer, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. The other five markets will be on July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12.

“It’s very important. People come for the produce. It’s the prime attraction,” Sitka Farmers Market Manager Debe Brincefield said. “We have jams and jellies, bread, fish, and arts and crafts, but people bring their produce bags and are happy to fill them.”

The Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm are two of the main projects of the Sitka Local Foods Network, and both projects came out of the second Sitka Health Summit, which took place in April 2008. The first garden beds were built and planted at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm by May 2008, and food grown at St. Peter’s was available for sale at the first Sitka Farmers Market in August 2008. Since then, both projects have been a growing concern.

These two projects came about because many in Sitka were concerned about food security, especially as the country entered a major recession in 2008. It’s estimated about 90-95 percent of the food eaten in Alaska is shipped here from the Lower 48 or foreign countries, and artificially cheap transportation made it easier for people to buy their food from the store than to grow or harvest it themselves, which was the norm in Sitka until the 1950s and 1960s. With so little food being grown locally, Sitka residents worried what might happen if fuel prices went up or if we had a natural disaster that destroyed our ports and/or airport.

There also were worries about how much longer residents could afford store-bought food, especially as Sitka food prices went up 43.6 percent from September 2003 to 2011, according to the Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report (a 2012 Sitka Health Summit project). The report also noted that 1,410 Sitka residents participated in the food stamp program in 2013, about one-sixth of Sitka’s population of about 9,000. Sitka residents redeemed $1,645,702 in food stamp dollars in 2012, an increase of $201,000 from 2011.

The Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm are two key elements for improving food security in Sitka, with education about gardening and food preservation being another key element.

“It helps people to connect the food to the market, and hopefully realize the Sitka Local Foods Network is the umbrella organization,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart said. “We knew if we had a market, we had to have food to sell. We have a lead gardener in Laura who has grown and expanded the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and our extension garden at Pat Arvin’s every year. And we have generous people who donate produce from their gardens for us to sell, such as Jud Kirkness, Linda Wilson and my family.”

To help families struggling with food security, the Sitka Farmers Market became the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska to accept SNAP (food stamps) and WIC nutrition benefits, including the Alaska Quest electronic benefits transfer cards used for SNAP. The Sitka Farmers Market also matches dollars spent on SNAP-approved foods (produce, fish, baked goods, barley products, etc.), which allows Alaska Quest card users to double their purchase by as much as $20 per person per market. That means a family of four with SNAP benefits can be matched up to $80. This year, the Sitka Farmers Market will partner with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) on a new program where SEARHC beneficiaries with chronic disease are prescribed vouchers for fruits and vegetables.

And the growing is spreading.

“As I was taking a walk around town the other day, I identified three new gardens,” Sadleir-Hart said. “They also have a new garden at the Pioneer Home where they’re growing food.”

For more information about the Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/ or email sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com. To learn about being a vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market, contact Debe Brincefield at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or call 738-8683.

(Editor’s note: The story above appeared in the Weekender section of the July 2, 2015, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel. It was written by Sitka Local Foods Network board member/communications director Charles Bingham.)

July 3, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka’s first home horticulture stand opens for business under new zoning ordinance

The first home horticulture stand has opened in Sitka, taking advantage of a new zoning ordinance passed by the Sitka Assembly last December.

Anam Cara Family Garden, owned by Tom Hart and Lisa Sadleir-Hart, opened on Wednesday afternoon, July 1, in front of the family home at 815 Charles St. The farm stand will be open from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesdays through the summer, according to the stand’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/GardenStandonCharlesStreet.

Before opening the home horticulture stand, the Hart/Sadleir-Hart family (which includes daughter, Muriel Sadleir-Hart) had to go through an extensive process with the city to get approval to sell their excess produce. The hope is the new process will be streamlined so the city’s planning commission can approve permits without home gardeners having to go all the way to the Sitka Assembly for approval.

“We started preparing for opening our garden stand a year ago when we approached the city planner at the time, Wells Williams,” said Lisa Sadleir-Hart, who also is president of the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors. “He was absolutely supportive of our efforts and coached us through the ordinance change process that would allow the sale of produce from a garden stand on our property in a residential zone. We met with the Planning and Zoning commission three times and the City and Borough Assembly three times, then came back to the Planning and Zoning commission three times after the zoning ordinance was passed. We were really glad to have moved through the public process to ensure our neighbors were supportive of what we wanted to pursue. The total time from the initiation of the public process to the date we actually received our conditional use permit, took about nine months. We had our ‘open garden stand’ event on July 1 and are looking forward to testing this venue for selling our excess produce.”

The ordinance allows garden stands in residential areas, but they are limited to six feet by eight feet. And to reduce the impact on neighbors, stands can only operate four hours a day, two days a week, between May and October. The ordinance specifically doesn’t include livestock or animal products. Home gardeners who set up produce stands in front of their homes will be required to have a business license and pay city sales tax.

June 23, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Local Foods Network to host six Sitka Farmers Market events in 2015

Celebrate your independence from store-bought and factory-processed food this year by joining the Sitka Local Foods Network as it hosts the eighth summer of Sitka Farmers Markets in 2015. There will be six markets this year, starting on July 4 and taking place on alternate Saturdays through Sept. 12. The Sitka Farmers Markets give Sitka residents a chance to buy and sell locally produced food and crafts.

The Sitka Farmers Markets take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12 at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.). The markets feature local seafood (fresh, frozen, and cooked, ready to eat), locally grown and harvested fruits and vegetables, baked goods, locally made jams and jellies, live entertainment and music, local arts and crafts, and a variety of other items gathered or made in Sitka. We emphasize local products and lots of fun. We are the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska to accept WIC coupons and Alaska Quest EBT for SNAP (food stamp) users. Debe Brincefield is the Sitka Farmers Market manager, with Francis Wegman-Lawless serving as assistant manager.

“The Sitka Farmers Market is a great way to connect with community members and support local entrepreneurs,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart said. “Spending your dollars locally has a multiplying effect and helps your neighbors. We also encourage Sitkans to join the $5 Per Week Alaska Grown Challenge and support your local producers each week with $5. Dollars spent locally multiply in our community to the tune of about $3 for each dollar spent. So you get great local food and support your neighbors by spending locally.”

The Sitka Farmers Market started as a community wellness project that came out of a health priority planning meeting at the 2008 Sitka Health Summit. The markets are sponsored by the Sitka Local Foods Network, Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp No. 1, Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp No. 4, Baranof Island Housing Authority, the Alaska Farmers Market Association, the Alaska Division of Public Health Cancer Control Program, and the SEARHC Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention programs.

“As with the past three seasons, we invite Sitkans who participate in food stamps to use their QUEST card at the market and we will match up to $20 per market for each food stamp participant in a household until resources are exhausted,” Sadleir-Hart said. “So for a family of four that could mean up to $80 extra dollars to shop at each market. Additionally, the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm stand will be working with the SEARHC Health Promotion program to debut a new fruit and vegetable prescription program at the market. SEARHC’s nutritionist will provide eligible beneficiaries with $5 vouchers to use at the farm stand to access local, fresh produce. The farm stand also will accept WIC farmers market and fruits and vegetable vouchers (FVV).”

To learn more about the market and how to be a vendor, contact Sitka Farmers Market Manager Debe Brincefield at 738-8683 or by e-mail sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com. Vendor rules, registration forms and other info for potential vendors can be found on the Documents page at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/.