# Local food sustainability group



## Alasgun (Feb 11, 2021)

I originally posted this over on the Easy garden site and thought some of you might be interested as well.

In our every changing world, food sustainability has come into focus as people have concerns about shortages etc. Locally a group was recently formed, comprised of concerned citizens from all sectors with a desire to learn, share and or provide what they can to a common cause. Pretty cool actually!
I’ve been asked to share at todays meeting, a privilege i will enjoy. Going into a group of 40 some souls i do not know is somewhat intimidating especially when you realize they cover the full gamut, master gardeners down to complete novices.
My goal (and prayer for today) is to give each of them a take away, something they can build on and hopefully something they can pass along to others.

Un certain times are a great opportunity to pay it forward, if you have an opportunity to become involved in something like this I’d encourage you to do so. Or if you are already involved and have any advice for “stupid here”, im all ears!

We meet weekly and i’ll stay with this post a bit, reporting back for any that are interested.


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## thistlebloom (Feb 11, 2021)

Staying tuned.


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 11, 2021)

Me too


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## Alasgun (Feb 12, 2021)

The meeting went well yesterday. I’m amazed at how far they’ve come in the few month’s they’ve been active. 
currently they have a legislative arm, a communications arm, a transportation/ construction arm and the food sustainability group. Each separate entity meets weekly and the bigger group monthly!

My interest wont go beyond the food group but im excited to see what a group of concerned citizens can pull off. 
Our members run the gamut and include farmer descendants of the pioneers who settled Alaska at statehood, folks with large scale meat and vegetable processing capability, numerous master gardeners etc.
Then there’s a bunch who just want to learn gardening, canning, butchering skills, root cellaring And to pass that on to the younger generation.

Alaska only produces 2% of our food, the rest coming thru the port in Seattle, which raised some concern last spring when they considered shutting our port down out of covid concerns! This groups main function is to heighten awareness of where that leaves us, promote community gardens, larger home gardens etc. And to implement a network of capable storage facilities, processing plants and the means to deliver these locally produced good to where they’re most needed.

My allotted time was directed at seed starting. Covering the necessary supplies, soil formulas, lighting, timing etc. Later today i’ll be working with a reputable seed source to gain “commercial grower” status, hoping to gain better access to that all important element, Seed’s!

I find them to be a refreshing mix of folks who are not shy to Pray to open and close meetings And yesterday after one lady pointed out the flags in the meeting hall, we all stood and recited The Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag. Couldn’t get any better than that!


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## thistlebloom (Feb 12, 2021)

Thanks for sharing these encouraging happenings. 😍


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## Baymule (Feb 12, 2021)

This is beyond wonderful! I like it! I need to see if there is a group like that in our town/county.

Is this so people become more responsible for their own food production? In WW2 the government promoted Victory Gardens. Now the government promotes hand outs. How far we have fallen.

I get frustrated with all the LAND that people have at their disposal and do nothing with it. Apathetic? Lazy? Don’t know? Don’t care? Too busy wrapped up in their own lives? I don’t know, people need to wake up. If the seed companies selling out is any indication, a movement has started. We all need to get behind this.

Thanks for posting this!


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## Alasgun (Feb 12, 2021)

Yes @Baymule, a modern Victory garden approach And more. Educating folks and attempting to regain lost local knowledge. Finally something social media may be good for🤔, introducing young folks to community gardening, teaching canning, dehydrating, vacuum sealing / freezing etc.

How far would any of this carry us in a dire strait’s situation ? Probably not a long ways but certainly a better option than a bunch of hand wringing or pounding on some politicians door looking for the government to fix the problem!

Alaska has it’s share of “preppers” and a very strong veteran population both of which seem better equipt to “take care of they’re own”, sort of a country boy will survive mentality!

Down, America folks make lots of road kill jokes, they even got some songs about the dead skunks in the middle of the road an such!😉

up here we aint got no skunks but we scoop up those road killed moose and haul them off to get processed and distributed into the population. Personally, im not much on sompin that wer not kilt proper like, you know; bled an all BUT there’s litterly a ton of meat there for them that’s so inclined.
besides, can you imaging the image tourist would get driving along and smelling a full grown Angus bull laying dead on the road, in a high state of ferment? We gotta keep our image up you know.


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## Baymule (Feb 12, 2021)

I have been known to process road kill deer.   Why let all that meat go to waste?


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## Alaskan (Feb 12, 2021)

Alasgun, Sounds like a great group.

But I think in general... like you said... Alaska has a bigger proportion of "be fully prepared " types (peppers too and all that).

And it REALLY helps it sink in when on a semi-regular basis.. you are at the grocery store...  and just..  no cheese.

Or...  Oops, zero animal feed.  Or no whatever.

And that is before covid too.

And one year we had a flood that took out every bridge between us and the Anchorage...  (well, at least 3) so it was WEEKS without stuff coming in.

They brought in WIC food on airplanes...  but that was pretty much it.

I remember getting the last salad in town.  
I found it pretty funny, going to the store..   there was the WIC food (so milk, cheese,  baby formula) very little produce, and the canned food isle gave me the giggles.  Really showed what things people hate to eat.

But no one went hungry...  we just ate out of the freezer..  Salmon, halibut, salmon,  halibut, and SALMON.


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## Baymule (Feb 12, 2021)

I myself know for a FACT that I have squirrel DNA.  We could probably live for a year on what I have stashed.


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## Alasgun (Feb 19, 2021)

Yesterday’s meeting went well. I had invited a gal who works for the Alaska state fair, running an experiment station of sorts right on the fair grounds. They have a large poultry barn, a goat barn a greenhouse and several plots from 1/8th acre to 1 acre that get used for community gardens up to lessons on cover crops etc on the larger pieces. 
next week the whole group will take a farm tour and determine who’s interested in what and so forth and so-on. It’s starting to look like this thing has gained enough momentum to actually fly?

Apparently way back when, someone donated this plot of land to the state with the stipulation it would never be sold and that it would be made available for this very purpose!

“There still are some good people, toto!”


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## Alasgun (Feb 27, 2021)

Thursday’s meeting saw us taking a farm tour of the Raduchez property which is on the State fairgrounds. This family was part of the original Colony project back in the 30’s. They donated this property to the Alaska state fair, which operates an almost living history arrangement on the property. Currently restoration of the Almost 100 year old log cabin (farm house) and numerous out buildings is being undertaken.

This working farm houses a 60 ft. Poultry building, a goat barn and a 100 ft high tower greenhouse! Plots of land from 1/8th acre up to 1 acre are available for rent/ trade/ or work for food arrangements and all work is performed by community members participating in the various small animal and farming groups. This includes a group of adult mentors and a collection of students ranging from kids thru Wounded Veterans or displaced Women!

kinda makes you all warm inside when you learn something like this is going on right in your community! This tour was to introduce folks wanting to learn gardening to folks with available small plots plus experience and limited resources such as irrigation to the various plots, volunteer‘s to plow or till tracts of land etc.

Time will tell how it all shakes out but a big tip of the hat to these early pioneers with the foresite to look this far down the road. The stipulation placed on the land donation included a clause saying “the land can never be sold and must be used for educational purposes and an aid to community gardeners.”


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## Alasgun (Mar 5, 2021)

Yesterdays meeting was well attended and im happy to see new faces each week.
To date ive been able to provide them with a local source for organic garden soil, numerous research links and documents to help them understand  some of the finer points, a farm tour that includes the opportunity to grow a garden at this farm, if they‘re situation wouldn't permit it and yesterday i presented my “johnny appleseed project”.

Knowing how quickly things will go here in the next month i decided to place a bulk seed order which included cabbage, 2 kinds of squash, pole and bush beans, beets, chard, kale, carrots, celery, parsley, dill and anise hyssop. These are “the easy stuff”.  My goal is for them to have all the tools to actually get out there AND DO SOMETHING! 
Those seeds arrived and i will deliver they’re personal seed orders next week and that will end my involvement with the group as we’ll be moving into our own busy season.

Some have mentioned, “gee, it would be nice to have something like this where i live” and i would challenge you to find a way! Simply buying a few seeds or distributing some of your last years stuff would be a good starting point. I noticed early on, most of these folks needed to be led by the hand  for a while but in a group setting there will always be those who are do’ers and that inspires others.

America was not founded by people sitting around wringing they’re hands and saying, gee i don’t know about that. We are where we are by the grace of God and the determination of individual's willing to step out and lead!
Be one of them!


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