Read more about our participation in Alaska Humanity Forum’s Facilitator Training. We are ready to use these skills to broaden our work in 2024! By Sundance Visser

Alaska legislation proposed to feed more Alaskans and help families get out of poverty! Learn more about why we support HB 147 and SB 149.

The 2023 Food and Farm Festival brought together manufacturers, food policy experts, farmers, food service professionals, distributors, educators, mental workers, funders, and more to help cross-pollinate solutions and strategies to build a better food network together. Over 500 people attended online and in-person over the 3-day event as well as 50 vendors. Attendees were able to connect and share their unique experiences and knowledge to find new paths of supporting each other's work.

A big welcome to our newest staff member Colin Peacock, our Regional Food business Center Co-Director. He has long shown his commitment to food advocacy through his work, education, travels, and personal life. Learn more about his journey to become our FIRST REGIONAL FOOD BUSINESS CENTER CO-DIRECTOR.

Leah Moss may have taken a winding path to get here but her history in community building and communications experience comes together seamlessly with a history of working with food and justice organizations. Learn about her journey and how she is ready to build a thriving food network in Alaska.

In early-October, AFPC provided comments on substantial proposed rule changes within several of the USDA's Federal Nutrition Programs:

• The Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)

• The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP, Senior food boxes)

• The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Program (FDPIR)

Effective public policy is one of my absolute passions, and in 2017 I was elected to Homer’s City Council. Over the years on Council and with my various jobs, I have been deeply involved in developing and advocating for changes and improvements in local and state policy…

“You are what you eat”… This common saying is quite literally the most accurate statement regarding the relationship between consumed nutrition and health status. Food fuels our bodies and has always been used as a natural healing property. It makes sense that food can be used as medicine to prevent and treat chronic disease.

In tandem with NFMW, Alaska Farmers Market week has officially been declared by Governor Mike Dunleavy. Alaska Farmers Market Week! AFMA will showcase how our Markets have changed the way we interact with food, land, and community.

We have some big news: in preparation for our Role in the Islands & Remote Areas USDA Regional Food Business Center, AFPC has officially welcomed our second-ever staff member to the team. Sundance Visser of Homer, Alaska, joins us as our part-time Operations & Finance Director. She’s also serving as our AFPC Conference Planner and Alaska Food Hub Working Group Coordinator.

"The UN has set “Zero Hunger” as one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. We believe that farmers markets are a means to achieving that goal. We are inspired by our new friends from across the globe and by such hospitality from our hosts in Italy. In the words of our Secretary General Carmelo Troccoli: “We have no leaders, we are all leaders.” With this, we move forward in supporting and building farmers markets around the world.”

The first Farmers Market of the season is around the corner and there are programs in store to improve community access to local foods. Alaska Farmers Market Association has been granted funds to support a number of food access programs at Farmers Markets and Farm Stands across the State. 

“This is a huge investment for Alaska’s food producers, with potentially transformative outcomes for the whole state. We have a rare opportunity to help build a better food system that is more sustainable, equitable, and resilient,” says AFPC Executive Director Robbi Mixon.

PLEASE JOIN US IN WELCOMING OUR NEWEST AFPC TEAM MEMBERS: Hannah Hill has joined our board of directors (2023-2026) and Summer Sweet is our new, year long Americorps volunteer!

Spring is here! As we say hello to the warm and bright sunshine, we say goodbye to frosts. For garden growers, spring is the time to start sowing. For curious and aspiring gardeners, sowing means planting seeds. Yet, growing plants, fruits, and vegetables can still sound very worrisome. Where to begin?

Please celebrate with us by learning some cool facts all week long!

With daylight returning and spring in the air, March is a great time to consider how we can eat to best support our bodies and the planet.  It’s National Nutrition Month and this year, with a theme of Fuel for the Future, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics invites us to eat with sustainability in mind. Here are some things you can do to stay nourished this month:

This past February, the Alaska Food Policy Council joined the Alaska Food Coalition, along with many other food organizations, for a week of advocacy and education in Juneau…

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…

I love watching things grow.  Almost every year since my cabin days in Fairbanks, I plant a backyard vegetable garden.  There’s something magic about seeds transforming into plants under the intense Alaskan sun, and the satisfaction of harvesting and eating delicious greens, peas, or broccoli.  It’s hard work, but you get to enjoy the results. I also love to share the garden bounty…