Alaska Food Policy Council & Beyond: Growing Connections and Building Networks for Greater Food Security:
2020–2022 USDA Regional Food System Partnership Planning
Grant Project Review & Statewide Food Systems Action Plan
Created on behalf of the Alaska Food Policy Council and the numerous organizations and over 325 individuals who contributed to and participated in this project. Thank you for your dedication to improving Alaska’s food system for all.
**download the report HERE**
This USDA Regional Food Systems Partnership planning grant was initiated by the Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC) to aid the State of Alaska in more objectively, equitably, and sustainably addressing food systems challenges.
Grant activities included:
The identification and strengthening of regional food systems networks;
Providing network education and leadership development;
Engaging residents in the process of collaboration and ideation around food systems solutions;
Establishing a communications and resource-sharing ecosystem. At the state level, grant funds and activities have catalyzed a dynamic food systems network with the potential to scale across the state.
These activities aided the group in achieving the three proposed objectives outlined in the initial grant application, which are as follows:
Objective 1: Improved connection, communication, and collaboration of food system organizations/ local food policy councils, statewide for collective action to improve Alaska’s food system.
Objective 2: Identification of community food systems assets, barriers, and capacities, to foster connection and collaboration.
Objective 3: Statewide food security action plan, informed by regional Alaskan nodes representing a wide range of locations and stakeholder groups.
The outcomes of this grant were tangible at the community level, and positioned AFPC strongly to scale the resources developed and engage even more Alaskans in their food system. In addition to this report, a digital community was formed—the Alaska Food Systems Network, as well as an accompanying digital, dynamic map to track food knowledge, skillsets, and assets around the state.
At the close of this planning project, much opportunity exists to scale our activities in an implementation phase, funded by the USDA’s RFSP Implementation grant. It was clear from participant discussion and written feedback that there exists much enthusiasm for continuing to foster cross-community connections. Ongoing support will be needed to do so, with a distributed, community-led approach.
