SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK

SITKA, Alaska, 99835-7362 United States

Mission Statement

The Sitka Local Foods Network is a 501(c)3 non-profit group whose mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans.

About This Cause

What do you do when you live in a remote island community in Southeast Alaska that brings about 90-95 percent of its food to town by barge or plane, and no roads connect it with other communities? That was a question residents of Sitka, Alaska, asked themselves at the 2008 Sitka Health Summit, just as the U.S. economy was tanking and fuel prices were skyrocketing. Their answers, start a local foods market and expand community gardens (with the hope of building a community greenhouse) sowed the seeds for the Sitka Local Foods Network. Within a month of the 2008 Sitka Health Summit we built the St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden on donated land behind St. Peter's By The Sea Episcopal Church. A couple of months later saw us host the first of three Sitka Farmers Markets that summer, with produce grown at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm being one of the highlights of the markets, along with local fish, baked goods, arts and crafts, music, and a whole lot of fun. Since then, we have expanded St. Peter's Fellowship Farm several times and we now have a couple of satellite gardens. We also host six Sitka Farmers Markets each summer, on alternate Saturdays from July through September. In addition, we started an education program that offers a series of basic gardening and food preservation classes throughout the year, and we started a garden mentoring program to give one-on-one assistance to novice gardeners as they grow their first food crops (lettuce, kale, rhubarb and potatoes). Over the years, the Sitka Local Foods Network has led or assisted on other food-related projects to come out of the Sitka Health Summit. Some of these include projects to grow fruit trees in public spaces around town, the Fish to Schools program that made locally caught seafood a regular option at all of Sitka's schools (this project was led by the Sitka Conservation Society), the Sick-A-Waste composting education program, the Sitka Community Food Assessment to give us hard data about food security in town, and most recently the Sitka Kitch project to create a rental community commercial kitchen to help cottage food businesses, locals wanting to process harvested food, and for education events. Your support can help us continue and expand our work increasing Sitka's food security. Please click the donate button and help us support more local foods in Sitka, Alaska. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Note, we're having issues with the Electronic Funds Transfer setting on this site. If you don't want to send a check, we have an online donation page through Mighty Cause, https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Sitka-Local-Foods-Network. We also have a PayPal Giving Fund page, http://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1346967. We have reached the Bronze level on Guide Star, http://www.guidestar.org/profile/26-4629930

SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK
408 D Marine Street
SITKA, Alaska 99835-7362
United States
Phone 907-623-7660
Unique Identifier 264629930