November 10-12, 2023 -
Anchorage, AK (Egan Center) + Virtual Options
Alaska Food and Farm Festival
Better Together:
Celebrating Our Abundance and Diversity
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Up-to-date information from festival planners
Not able to join us in person?
Check out these three free sessions, open to the public via ZOOM:
Friday, 10:45-11:45am, Alaska Food Strategy Task Force: Report One Listening Session
Saturday, 9-10:30am, Unlocking the Mysteries of Organic Certification in Alaska: Listening Session and Workshop
Saturday, 9-10am, Islands & Remote Areas Regional Food Business Center: Listening Session
Learn more about our Keynote & Featured speakers, and festival artist!
Keynote Speakers:
Mariah Gladstone
*Keynote speech and cooking demo during Saturday lunch.
Mariah Gladstone, Piikuni (Blackfeet) and Tsalagi (Cherokee), grew up in Northwest Montana on and near the Blackfeet Reservation. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Environmental Engineering and returned home where she began her work on food advocacy. She developed Indigikitchen, an online cooking platform, to revitalize and re-imagine Native foods. Mariah has been recognized as a Champion for Change by the Center for Native American Youth and a Dreamstarter by the Running Strong for American Indian Youth foundation. She is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader, a MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellow, and a Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow. Gladstone earned a Master’s degree at SUNY-ESF in the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. She has shared the importance of reconnecting to traditional foods at events throughout North America and abroad, as well as through appearances on the Today Show, CBC, the Toasted Sister podcast, and many more. During her cooking demonstration, she will prepare one of her original recipes and showcase other indigenous foods that can easily be used in the contemporary kitchen.
*Sponsored by:
NANA Management Services – NMS
Ken Meter
*Keynote speech during Sunday lunch plus additional presentations during conference.
Ken Meter is one of the most experienced food system analysts in the U.S., integrating market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. Meter holds 47 years of experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building. His local economic analyses have promoted local food networks in 140 regions in 40 states, two provinces, and three tribal nations.
Learn more about Ken and Crossroads Resource Center here
*Sponsored by:
Alaska Food Policy Council
Tikaan Galbreath
Silas Tikaan Galbreath is a tribal member of the Mentasta Traditional Tribe, who are known as the headwaters people, or Taa’tl’aa Denaé in the Ahtna language. He is the Technical Assistance Director for Intertribal Agriculture Council
*Sponsored by:
NANA Management Services – NMS
Meda DeWitt
Meda Dewitt, MA., TH, is a Lingít traditional healer, certified massage therapist, ethno-herbalist, educator, and virtual and in-person events coordinator. DeWitt has associate degrees in science and human services; a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies: women’s rites of passage; a master’s degree of arts in Alaska Native traditional healing from the Alaska Pacific University; and is currently in an Indigenous studies doctoral program at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, New Zealand. www.medaforalaska.com
*Sponsored by:
NANA Management Services – NMS
Schedule change: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Keynote Gabe Brown will not be making the trip to Alaska but looks forward to joining us for future events.
Featured Speakers
Cara Mae Wooledge
Born and raised in Northern California, Cara Mae Wooledge, MPH, has lived through a broad spectrum of disasters both as a farmers market leader and local public health emergency responder. She has her Master in Community Health Science from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and believes deeply that public health is a human right which can only be achieved by addressing the underlying social determinants of health and striving for health equity. In 2018, after working for Napa County Public Health for 11 years as a Health Education Specialist, Cara Mae made the transition to become the Director of the Napa Farmers Market where she joyfully grows community around local food. Cara Mae is enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge and experience gained through her extensive disaster preparedness and response resume with local food system leaders.
*Sponsored by:
Alaska Farmers Market Association
Audra Mulkern
Audra Mulkern is a James Beard nominee, writer, photographer, aTEDx and international speaker. She is an advocate who is changing the way we look at farming and the people who grow our food. She is the founder of “The Female Farmer Project™” – a multi-platform documentary project that chronicles the rise of women working in agriculture around the world. From in-depth stories, personal essays, photographic portraits, and a podcast -- the project gives a powerful voice to the fastest-growing demographic in agriculture-- the female farmer. Audra is the Executive Producer, Producer, and Host of the in-production documentary film, "Women’s Work: The Untold Story of America’s Female Farmers”. Audra grew up in Anchorage and now resides in a small farming community outside of Seattle.
*Sponsored by: Alaska Farmers Market Association & Alaska Farm Bureau
Chantel Harrison
Chantel Harrison (Diné) is the co-founder of Indigeponics LLC, an agribusiness focused on indigenizing controlled environment agriculture to support indigenous communities. She recently completed her PSM in Controlled Environment Agriculture and led the Indigeponics: Indigenous Greenhouse Project at the University of Arizona. Her career interests include contributing solutions to address food accessibility and sovereignty in urban and rural areas.
Listening Session, NW TOPP
The Northwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program (NW TOPP) is a new program designed to provide greater assistance, support, and resources than ever before to farmers and ranchers transitioning to organic. In this session, NW TOPP will share about organic certification requirements and new programs supporting the transition to organic, and conduct a listening session to hear your ideas and concerns with organic certification in Alaska.
Oregon Tilth is an Accredited Certifying Agent (ACA) for the USDA's National Organic Program. More information at www.organictransition.org/region/northwest/
Floriculture Workshops with Kelly Shore
Tickets available as add-ons to conference registration
Hands-on Centerpiece Workshop
$115, Saturday 9:00-10:30am
Workshop opportunity with Kelly Shore of Petals by the Shore. Learn how to make a textural seasonal all American grown centerpiece with foam free mechanics. Vase and flowers provided. (Max 20 attendees)
How to Make and Price Market Bouquets
$75, Sunday 9:00-10:30am
Workshop opportunity with Kelly Shore of Petals by the Shore. Knowing how to maximize your time and your profit has to be key in any business. Kelly will teach how to mass make market bouquets, how to price appropriately, and different wrap options for an elevated presentation. (Max 20 attendees)
Festival Artist,
Valisa Higman
Valisa Higman is a cut-paper artist from Seldovia, Alaska. Her work reflects her love of community, food, and nature. Valisa was born in Seldovia, Alaska, and studied psychology and art at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Along the way she has found inspiration in her surroundings. From the mountains of Colorado to the tea houses of Eastern Europe, the deserts of Africa to the limestone cliffs of Laos, she is forever moved by the beauty and grace the world has to offer.
2023 EVENT Partners:
THE ALASKA FOOD POLICY COUNCIL, ALASKA FARM BUREAU, AND WESTERN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH & EDUCATION ARE PARTNERING FOR THE 7TH SESQUIANNUAL ALASKA FOOD FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE, IN COMBINATION WITH THE ALASKA FARM CONVENTION & TRADESHOW.
Alaska Farm Bureau supports, educates, and advocates for Alaska Agriculture, helping build and grow farmers and ranchers across Alaska. Alaska Farm Bureau is the largest agriculture-related organization in the State of Alaska. We are here to support Alaska growers regardless of the product grown or method of production. Alaska agriculture affects us all.
Alaska Food Policy Council’s goal is to create a healthier, more secure, and more self-reliant Alaska by improving our food system. The AFPC is open to anyone interested in improving Alaska’s food systems - agencies and individuals representing federal and state agencies, tribal entities, schools, university programs, farmers, fisheries, and food systems businesses.
Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) mission is to advance innovations that improve profitability, stewardship, and quality of life in American agriculture by investing in groundbreaking research and education. To achieve that, Western SARE believes that our programs must include the involvement of agricultural producers from inception to finish, and therefore we require producer involvement in the planning, design, implementation, and educational outreach of any funded project.
CONFIRMED Sponsors:
AFPC’s GOALS FOR THE CONFERENCE
AND FESTIVAL ARE TO:
(1) increase awareness of Alaska food issues among the general population;
(2) provide training, resources, and networking opportunities to increase involvement in local food issues by community members and decision-makers; and
3) increase connections and build community between the public, Alaska food businesses, NGOs, governmental entities, Tribal entities, and others to support local economic development and innovative solutions.
*Please note that the content and views presented during this event do not necessarily represent those of the Alaska Food Policy Council or our partners. As a non-partisan, non-profit organization, we seek a broad presentation of viewpoints and participation.
