Sitka Local Foods Network monthly newsletter for October 2021

Thanks for Sitka Farmers Market season

We wrapped up the 14th Sitka Farmers Market season on Saturday, Sept. 18, at the plaza outside Harrigan Centennial Hall, and we want to thank all of the vendors and customers who made it a successful season. While the scale of our markets this summer was smaller than in past years, we were happy to be able to provide a community gathering place that also gave a venue for local vendors. We missed that in 2020, but we were still fighting Covid-19 this summer and needed to hold an all-outdoor market to limit the spread. Farmers markets are considered essential businesses, even during a pandemic, and they're a great way to support local food and the local economy. The Sitka Local Foods Network hosted eight Sitka Farmers Markets this summer, on July 3, July 17, July 31, Aug. 7, Aug. 21, Aug. 28, Sept. 11, and Sept. 18 (click dates for highlights from each market). In addition, the Sitka Farmers Market was the top vote-getter from Alaska for the fifth straight year in the America's Farmers Market Celebration, co-sponsored by the American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition. Thanks to everybody who voted for us this year. We expect to relaunch the 15th season of Sitka Farmers Markets in late June or early July 2022, and we'll post info about how to be a vendor once we have dates and venue confirmed. For more details about the markets and the Sitka Local Foods Network that hosts them, click this link.

Support us by buying a t-shirt or hoodie

Want to support the Sitka Local Foods Network as we try to improve food security in Sitka? Buy a t-shirt or hoodie from our new online store. Proceeds from the fundraiser will help us as we grow fresh local produce at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden, hosting the Sitka Farmers Market, sponsoring the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, and connecting Sitka residents to gardening, cooking, and food preservation education opportunities. Ordering our shirts is easy, you do it online and they ship directly to your home (note, on the logos with different types of shirts shown you might have to scroll to the side to see more versions). We also recently added versions of the special logo design Sitka Farmers Market t-shirts from Lisa Teas Conaway, which include Chatham Strait Carrots, Biorka Beets, Redoubt Rhubarb, Kruzof Kale, and Sitka Sound Strawberries. These make great holiday gifts, too. For more details, click this link.

Extension hosts Food Preservation series

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service's Extension Kitchen program will host an online series of Food Preservation Workshops in October and November, using Zoom. The classes are from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesdays, and are taught by Extension Agent Sarah Lewis from the Juneau District Office. Each class costs $10, and there are door prizes for participating students. You can take one class or all of them. Class topics include building a food secure pantry, canning fruit and berries, preserving herbs, dehydrating vegetables, cooking mixes and sourdough starter, making and canning pickles, canning meat and vegetables, making jerky, and pressure canning spaghetti sauce. Click this link for more details about the series and a link to the registration page.

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, and volunteers to help with the Sitka Farmers Market and growing food at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm. 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 online board meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6. Due to COVID-19 coronavirus health concerns and the need to social-distance, we will meet using Zoom online meetings (email us at the address below for a meeting link). Feel free to check us out. Our meetings are open to the public. For details and a meeting link, contact SLFN board president Charles Bingham at 623-7660 or sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

2021 sponsorship program closing

The 2021 Sitka Local Foods Network sponsorship program is closing, but we're getting ready to launch our 2022 sponsorship campaign. 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 (we just ordered a new high tunnel in December 2020 so we can grow more produce for the markets), 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, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), ALPS Federal Credit Union, Sea Mart and Market Center, the employees of First National Bank Alaska, Harry Race/White's Inc., Linda Schmidt, and The Skaggs Foundation for donating in 2021. We also thank the Sitka White Elephant Shop (White E), Sitka True Value, and Sweet Sisters Caramels for supporting us with their sponsorships for 2020. In addition, we thank The Alaska Community Foundation, the Sitka Legacy Foundation, David and Margaret Steward, Amanda Anjum, Charles Bingham, and our other individual donors for their support. To learn more about our sponsorship program, click this link.