Fact: #alaska imports 95% of its #food. Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center (MN) asking the right questions during his keynote address at the Alaska Food and Farm Festival: “Why are we trying to develop export markets in a state that isn’t feeding itself?” In 40 years of Alaska Grown development, learning to feed ourselves needs to stay at the center of the discussion. #akfood #alaskaGrown #farm #gardening
This graph is hard to see, but basically “line go up” at least as far as developing kelp production, both farmed and wild, in #alaska. #akfood #mariculture #kelpFarmers #kelptomaniac
Seriously thought I’d post more photos already but I needed to recharge with #whiskeyRamen and a #HotTub while I’m here in the Big City. #alaska #anchorage #SnowCity #akfood
Well, this alaska food and farm festival is officially information overload. There were lightning sessions (#compost! Native #greens! Traditional foods!) breakouts (#beekeeping! #Mariculture! Food security! Flower diseases!) meet and greets and awards. This three ring circus wrapped day one and I am truly overwhelmed. #akfood
“We don’t cultivate the land; the land cultivates us” -Tikaan Galbreath Intertribal Agriculture Program #akfood #native #quote
KEYNOTE PLENARY SESSION: Navigating Modern Landscapes with Traditional Plants.
AK food& farm festival centered native voices with the keynote presentation. I’m impressed that a conference focused on farming/ag/food would offer a keynote presentation on the main stage about the importance of native food traditions in our foodshed. A much wider and more holistic approach. Food is more than fuel; it’s a relationship, a memory, a medicine, an activity, a generational connection. #akfood #native
Knowledge Sharing. A new database is being created by the AFPC Food Waste Committee. Have a great food bank in your AK community? Add it to the database. Generate too much food with nowhere for it to go? Post it! Eventually, we will have a great map of resources, deficits, community needs and mutual aid possibilities. Love it! #akfood #Afpc #FoodWaste #MutualAid
SURVEY HERE:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIMwGfK2o2LB4kIG7Jt_AvxkyI1EhQSQw_FYsh87Q0G866Bw/viewform?pli=1
Food Recovery Survey

Are you someone who works with a business, governmental entity, or non-profit to prevent food waste from entering a landfill? This survey is for you! Please read the survey description below. If you're someone who's curious about food recovery in your Alaskan community, please visit the AK Food Recovery Dashboard: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A4wxLKj3ItMWccwOq4GLy7wmEEha732ePPDCqJX1P50/edit#gid=706443996 A food waste partnership is where two or more groups work together to divert waste from the landfill. There are lots of ways to do this, such as: giving food to food banks, giving scraps to animals, and composting. If you work together with another organization to reduce food waste, we want to know about it! This survey will gather information about existing food recovery partnerships in Alaska. We then plan to make a public map of these partnerships. We hope this will raise awareness for local food recovery efforts. From there we can build on existing resources for an even better local food system. Please know that this survey is to gather information for a public tool. If you do not want to share your food partnership information, please do not complete this survey. We value your knowledge so if you have any questions or are unsure if you want to share your information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]. We would love to talk with you more about what you do.

Google Docs
This first session (for me), focused on a new program currently called the Alaska foodCorps (name may change; not affiliated with the national org called FoodCorps.) AFPC will be coordinating AmeriCorps service members with community food projects. These synergistic relationships will help local projects increase food literacy and outlook while developing new young leaders. #akfood #americorps #foodpolicy
Swag bag in hand, it’s straight to Rachel Lord’s session on increasing capacity of alaska farms! #akfood #afpc #akFoodPolicy #americorps
Only a one hour delay on Aleutian Air, I’m gonna count that as a win. Just a little view of the peaks of 2 volcanoes, Iliamna and Redoubt. #akfood #akfpc #alaska