Hey Everyone, just wanted to pass on the letter I wrote
to Governor Palin in case any of you were interested. If not please delete it
and sorry for the mail traffic....
It's not too late to comment and I would encourage each
of you to write her even if you only write a short note sharing your thoughts on
what Alaskan Agriculture means to you. If enough of us ask for the issue to
take center stage maybe, just maybe, it will.
I found her e-mail notice
on the state web page. maybe this link will work....
http://gov.state.ak.us/govmailSP.php
Take care and I hope you all are
well.
Kim
Dear Governor Palin,
I would like to thank you for inviting Alaskans to
comment and give feedback on issues they feel important to our State and
communities. To me and to every Alaskan who eats, the issues of
food security in Alaska is of great concern. As you may know, 90%
of the foods Alaskans consume is shipped in from outside, most items having
traveled over 3000 miles to get here⬦ In the event of a break in transportation,
like during 9-11, or a natural disaster, like the 1964 earthquake, the latest
statistics show that Alaska has 4 days worth of food stocked on the store
shelves.
Being from the Valley, I'm sure you're aware that we have
some of the most productive agriculture lands in the State. So
productive, Palmer was founded as an agriculture colony in the 1940's.
Fortunately, this rich agriculture heritage is still alive today.
However, many of our farmers struggle to stay in business. With
the Valleys growth, pressure on limited farmlands has increased. As you can
imagine, the best place to create a new development is on flat, cleared,
farmland.
The issue of Food Security for Alaska should become a top
priority for State Government and the Alaska Division of Agriculture.
Many other states like Montana, California, Nebraska, Iowa, Washington,
Minnesota, and Vermont to name a few, have taken notice of global food security
issues and have created active sustainable agricultural networks, working
groups, and task forces to grapple with their States food system.
Given Alaska's geographic challenges it is imperative that we organize
and begin working on this issue as well.
I would like to offer some suggestions of how the State
Government could support Alaska's Agriculture Industry.
÷
Shaking up the Division of Ag.
For starters, the division
of Agriculture needs new leadership with vision. Alaska's farmers
need support from the State to increase food production and to ensure that
Alaska becomes food secure. In my opinion, division needs a new director able to
design and implement a food security plan for the State and to provide
leadership so the division can launch a new interactive educational campaign
detailing how farmers and consumers can work together to secure a vibrant and
sustainable foods system for the State. The division also needs a mechanism to
gather input from all stakeholders involved in the agriculture sector.
One way to do this would be to initiating the creation of an elected
board of farmers, consumers and businesses that would make regular
recommendations to the Division of Ag. on how to develop programs and
initiatives that would best support Alaska's food system.
- On the ground research and support
The University of Alaska and the Cooperative Extension
should be tasked with the challenge of designing and assisting with the
implementation of a food security plan for the State. Currently,
we have some of the States best and brightest researching challenges such as the
best turf grasses for golf courses, rather than working on food security
planning for the State. With world wide oil shortages looming,
food shortages will not be so far behind. Alaska needs to prepare
for this enviable future and the University system has the resources to be a
valuable participant. One activity the University and the Cooperative Extension
are capable spearheading is the implementation of a food security assessment of
the entire State. Data collected from the assessment would be
invaluable in identifying gaps and barriers in local foods production,
distribution and consumption.
÷
Protecting the only USDA Certified Meat Processing
Facility for Southcentral.
This facility, though in
financial turmoil, must not go away. The State should enter into a long term 5
to10-year agreement with the Department of Corrections to Keep McKinley Meat and
Sausage plant open in Palmer. Doing this would help stabilize the
dairy and red meat sector for the southcentral region. To ensure
economic viability for the facility, I would suggest hiring a plant manager with
marketing experience to create new products and venues for local meats.
A new management with vision committed to increasing consumer knowledge
and access to local meats would increase the revenue for the facility, increase
demand for local meats and become key link in securing access to local
foods. If the demand and supply of local meat increased new
markets would open. Just imagine how great it would be to walk
into Fred Myers and be able to purchase Valley raised, grass fed, hormone free,
beef, pork and lamb, not to mention the knowledge that your purchase is
supporting an Alaskan Farm family.
÷
Building infrastructure so Alaska can sustain its food
industry
Alaska
is severely lacking in infrastructure to support a
local food system. This infrastructure needs to be developed to
support the preservation of the summer harvest. The Mat-Su Borough
is in involved in an effort to build an Agricultural Processing, Storage and
Product Development Center near the school district's new Central Kitchen.
Assisting the Borough with the development of this project would
be a giant step in the right direction to supporting food security for the
region. A facility such as this would help get Alaska-grown produce such as
carrots and potatoes into the school lunch programs statewide and open up new
markets for crops, such as peas and broccoli, and new products such as
"Matanuska Red" rhubarb juice. Currently, farmers and
entrepreneurs have no facility to create value added products from the produce
being produced in the State. Depending on the size of this new
facility, the potential for growth is only limited by farmer's ability to keep
up with the demand. As we know with the supply and demand cycle
they support each others growth. This facility would be another
key link in ensuring that Alaskan's have access to locally produced
foods.
- Farmlands Conservation investing for the future
Farmers need State support
to protect their farmlands for current and future generations of Alaskans.
Without productive Farmlands Alaskans are forced to be dependant
on a global food system. We know from the latest research that the
global food system is not sustainable. This means it will break
down. When this happens, what will Alaskans eat when the trucks
stop running? Immediate farmland preservation could occur if State
funding were offered to match the Natural Resources Conservation Services,
federal Farmland Protection Program funding. This program would
allow farmers to put their farmlands into conservation easements protecting it
from future non-agriculture development. Many other states already
take advantage of this federal program
by providing the matching
funds
.
I hope they these suggestion spark a few stimulating
conversations within your administration, though I do not think my ideas
original. I want to thank you again for the opportunity to share
my thoughts and for your time in reading them. I truly believe
food security in Alaska is an issue that cannot wait and that the State can play
a vital role in helping stabilize this valuable industry.
Supporting needed facilities, creating new markets and protecting family
farms from further growth in the Valley is exactly they type of initiatives
Alaskans would like to see the State Government take up. I would
be very interested in discussing Alaska's food security challenges with you in
more detail if you or your administration are interested. Thank
you again for your time.
Sincerely,
Kim Sollien
PO Box
4965
Palmer, Alaska
907-745-7379
Alaska Trust Foods Network
Kim Sollien, Co-founder
Jeremiah Millen, Co-founder
PO Box 4965
Palmer, Alaska
99645
Phone: 907-745-7379
E-mail
trustak@yahoo.com
