Guest blog post by Catholic Social Services
For decades, St. Francis House Food Pantry (SFH)—Catholic Social Services Alaska’s (CSS) oldest program—has helped our neighbors avoid hunger by providing emergency supplies of food for low-income households. In the last several years, CSS's role in Anchorage’s food system expanded further as its Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services (RAIS) developed an innovative agricultural program, which now supplements the food distribution of SFH. This collaboration between SFH and RAIS has resulted in meaningful connections for the people we serve across the Anchorage food system.
In 2007, RAIS began the Fresh International Gardens (FIG) program - a refugee-run farming co-op that helps new Alaskans develop English-language and small business skills, access fresh vegetables and earn supplemental income with the core focus of promoting wellbeing in refugee communities. The program expanded its capacity in 2019 with the opening of Grow North Farm (GNF) alongside Anchorage Community Land Trust. GNF provides a space for refugees to lease farmland and develop independent agricultural businesses, continuing on the trajectory they started with FIG.
RAIS’s agricultural programs (FIG and GNF) are effective on their own, but in collaboration with St. Francis House Food Pantry, the positive outcomes for our community are exponential. One of the main successes of this collaboration is leveraging federal food access programs. Since 2014, St. Francis House has distributed Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program coupons, which eligible senior citizens can exchange for produce at any local farmer’s market. In the summer of 2022, more than 250 low-income seniors received these coupons through SFH and purchased locally-grown, nutritious produce. At GNF, farmers are able to accept these coupons as well as transactions via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
This summer, the GNF farmstand offered an additional “double-up” program where SNAP recipients received a 50% discount on all vegetables, creating more opportunities for people to source their food locally. In the 2022 market season, the Anchorage Health Department partnered with GNF and funded a “fresh bucks” program, which provided additional veggie coupons at GNF to SNAP and WIC recipients who were already shopping onsite. This resulted in almost $8,000 of additional revenue for the refugee farmers at GNF. Altogether, these programs provide access to locally grown produce to populations who otherwise may not be able to afford nutritious food.
Catholic Social Services’ annual Grow Local, Give Local (GLGL) campaign represents another collaborative opportunity for SFH and RAIS. Beginning in 2020, this annual fundraiser collects donations from the community to provide the SFH food pantry with funds to purchase vegetables from farmers in the FIG program. To date, the GLGL campaign has raised almost $32,000 and has brought over 8,000 pounds of locally-grown produce to SFH clients.
Beyond increasing food access, the collaboration between SFH and RAIS creates meaningful connections between our neighbors in a shared food system. This supports Catholic Social Services’ broader commitment to not only meet basic needs but also to support the relationships and well-being of our community and our food system, connecting us all in a network of mutual support.
