This past February, fresh off the heels of Food Security Fly-in Week in Juneau, I had the honor of traveling with other Islands & Remote Areas Regional Food Business Center partners to St. Croix, USVI, to attend the 52nd AgriFest and to support the Virgin Islands Good Food’s inaugural Island Food System Summit.
In 2023, the Alaska Farmers Market Association (AFMA) introduced two impactful programs: the AFMA Market Match Program, and the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program. Learn how these are benefitting Alaskans from producers to consumers.
AFPC announced the winners of the 2022 Alaska Food Hero Award
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation State Veterinarian Office is now taking public comments on proposed changes to raw milk and raw milk products production and sales.
Help craft Alaskan food security and food safety!
After reading through the proposed language, and the FAQs, please take a moment to let them know your thoughts and suggestions (whether you agree or not) on the changes – your voice matters.
The Alaska Food Coalition (AFC) was founded in 1996, with encouragement from Alaska’s Department of Health and Human Services (now DHSS). While initially focused on increasing resource access for agencies and village councils who distribute food, the coalition has transformed over time to have a greater emphasis on advocacy and education. The mission of the Alaska Food Coalition is to address the root causes of hunger in Alaska through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. In this endeavor, we support policies and programs focused on alleviating hunger, building healthy communities, and promoting access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food. The AFC aspires to create systems change to end hunger in Alaska through the cultivation of a strong anti-hunger network.
“I’m excited to have more room to grow…It’ll also be cool to get more community involvement and be able to interact with other people who have similar goals. And it’ll be downtown so more people will be able to see what we’re doing.”
The planting was special due to the diverse group effort, but also unique because we set the 28 apple and 5 sour cherry trees in soil-packed, recycled fish totes, where they will grow as part of an experiment in establishing a cold-hardy urban orchard. Funded by a grant from the Alaska DNR Division of Forestry, the orchard project is one of the community-based projects AFPC has supported as part of our commitment to strengthening local food systems in Alaska…
The three-day annual conference, subtitled “A New Decade: Innovations in Alaska Agriculture and Food Production”, was held in an eco-friendly two-story secured facility nestled in the woods on the southern end of the BP campus in midtown Anchorage. The talks and presentations were located in aptly named rooms: Aspen and Birch on the 1st floor, and Alder/Cottonwood, Spruce/Willow, and Fir on the 2nd floor. The conference fee was nominally-priced and appeared to be well-attended (estimated at 50-70 people during peak). A continental breakfast was included in the registration fee and snacks and refreshments were provided during session breaks. In the building’s foyer, tables were set up for displays and handouts were provided by various organizations.
Salt & Soil Marketplace, an online farmer’s market selling local food in Juneau, Sitka, and Haines, has been open for almost three years now. In that time we saw our sales double the first two summers, and we were happy to announce at the last Alaska Food Policy Council conference in Homer that we expected to continue to grow steadily this summer. Sadly, that did not occur; instead our sales are half of what they were from last year.
We interviewed Juneau customers of Salt & Soil and other farmers, farmers markets, and landscapers to determine why this is happening. Are we alone in our local food slump or is this a larger region-wide occurrence?
The Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC), having commissioned a detailed analysis of Alaska’s food and farm system from Crossroads Resource Center in 2014 (Meter & Goldenberg, 2014), has succeeded in […]