Sitka Local Foods Network Monthly Newsletter For February 2020

Join us for our annual meeting and potluck

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its annual meeting and potluck dinner from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the See House behind St. Peter's By The Sea Episcopal Church. This is more of a social gathering with only a couple of business items on the agenda (election of officers and changes to bylaws). Join us for a discussion about how we can increase the amount of locally harvested and produced food in Southeast Alaska. We are hoping to be able to announce our 2020 Sitka Farmers Market dates and new managers at the meeting. This also is a good time to learn more about what we do and how you can help us. We will have a couple of door prizes available. For more information, click this link.

Pick.Click.Give. donation period open

Wednesday, Jan. 1, is when Alaskans began filing for their Permanent Fund Dividends. When you file for your PFD, you can share the wealth through Pick.Click.Give. with 622 participating nonprofits around Alaska, including 20 that operate in Sitka. The Sitka Local Foods Network is participating in the Pick.Click.Give. again in 2020, and we'd love your support. Your donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network helps us grow fresh local produce at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm, which we sell at the Sitka Farmers Market, where we match SNAP and WIC benefits to make local produce more available to low-income Sitkans. It also helps us teach gardening classes in the spring, and spark entrepreneurship with the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest. You can file for your PFDs from Jan. 1 through March 31, and the Pick.Click.Give. charitable giving program comes up at the end of the application. If you forget to make a PCG donation when you initially file your PFD application, you can go back online and update your PCG donations through Aug. 31, so long as your PFD application was submitted before March 31. For more details, click this link.

Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest open

Do you have the next great idea for a food business in Sitka? The Sitka Local Foods Network's third annual Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest is open for 2020. This contest is to encourage local entrepreneurs to grow fresh produce, process fish, cook good food, or start or expand any other type of food business that promotes local food in Sitka. We have two $1,500 prizes — one for existing businesses and one for start-up businesses (two years or younger). The entry fee is $25, and the entry deadline is before 5 p.m. on Friday, March 6. For more details and the contest entry form, click this link.

Help us build a new high tunnel at St. Peter's

The Sitka Local Foods Network needs your help to build a second high tunnel at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm, where we grow fresh local produce to sell at the Sitka Farmers Markets and other venues during the summer. A high tunnel, also known as a hoop house, allows us to extend the growing season and regulate the elements so we can grow more veggies. Toe build the new high tunnel, it will cost us about $3,500 so we recently launched a GoFundMe Charity fundraiser to help cover the costs. We match SNAP and WIC benefits at the farmers market, which helps make more local produce available for lower-income Sitka residents. For more information about the project and to donate, click this link.

Like local food? Join our board of directors

Did you enjoy the fresh local veggies at the Sitka Farmers Market this summer? Did you take one of our garden education classes this spring? Do you have an interest in getting more access to locally grown, harvested and produced food, and an interest in food security? If so, please consider joining our board of directors. We need new board members to keep offering these programs, and we'd love to have you join us. We need board members to keep things going, especially since we may be losing a couple to military relocation. If we don't find new board members, we may have to scale back our programs. For more details, please click this link. This page has links to our board job descriptions and applications. Our next meeting will be from 6-7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Sitka Public Library. Feel free to check us out. Our meetings are open to the public. For more details, contact SLFN board president Charles Bingham at 623-7660 or sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

Sitka Kitch hosts a Winter Baking Series

The Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen is hosting a Winter Baking Series in January through March. The next classes include Challah With Robin Sherman from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, and Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice (Take Two) from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, both at the Sitka Kitch, which is located in the kitchen of the Sitka Lutheran Church. We've already had a Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice class on Jan. 14 and a Bagels With Robin Sherman class on Jan. 28. Future classes will be announced once dates are confirmed, and possible topics include a brioche and pizza class and a dumpling class. The classes are $40 each, with current paid Sitka Food Co-Op members paying $30 (only one discount per family). Also, the Sitka Kitch is hosting a vegetarian Indian food fundraiser buffet dinner and silent auction from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at Beak Restaurant. This fundraiser dinner costs $40 per person. For more details about the fundraising dinner, click this link.

2020 sponsorship program opens

The 2020 Sitka Local Foods Network sponsorship program is open, and businesses and individuals are encouraged to contribute to help us keep our programs going and fulfill our mission of increasing the amount of locally harvested and produced foods in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. Your donations help us host the Sitka Farmers Market, grow food at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm, provide garden education classes in the spring, and sponsor the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest. Food security is a tenuous thing in Sitka, and we're trying to do our part to improve our community food security. We thank the Alaska Comprehensive Cancer Control Partnership, SEARHC, Harry Race/White's Inc., Sea Mart and Market Center for renewing their sponsorships for 2020, and we added First National Bank Alaska. To learn more about our sponsorship program, click this link.