Building Food security in Alaska

Transcription

1 Building Food security in Alaska Ken Meter Crossroads Resource Center (Minneapolis) Alaska Food Festival & Conference Anchorage, Alaska November 7, 2014

2 Sponsor Alaska Department of Health & Social Services

3 Finding Food in Farm Country Studies plus Maui & Hawai i Fairbanks & Alaska 107 regions in 36 states & Manitoba

4 Angoon

5 Johnson Family Farm, Fairbanks

6 Johnson Family Farm, Fairbanks

7 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

8 Wasilla

9 Palmer

10 Palmer

11 Centers Delivery for to the Disease Country Control

12 Angoon

13 Chena Hot Springs

14 Chena Hot Springs

15 Chena Hot Springs

16 Chena Hot Springs

17 Chena Hot Springs

18 Chena Hot Springs

19 Taco Loco, Anchorage

20 Taco Loco, Anchorage

21 Taco Loco Photo: Anabel Galindo

22 Calypso Farm, Ester

23 Bethel

24 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

25 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

26 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

27 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

28 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

29 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

30 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

31 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

32 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

33 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

34 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

35 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

36 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

37 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

38 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

39 Tim Meyers Farm, Bethel

40 Vision for local food economies Build: Health Wealth Connection Capacity

41 The current food system takes wealth out of our communities

42 Local foods may be the best path toward economic recovery in U.S.

43 Photo: DSC Local is a shorthand...

44 Goal: to build Community-Based Food Systems Photo: DSC

45 Selawik 1982

46 Map by Adam Cox

47 Alaska 731,449 residents Anchorage garden 1982

48 Bureau of Economic Analysis

49 40 Personal income in Alaska, (adjusted) $ billions (2012) Bureau of Economic Analysis

50 Bureau of Economic Analysis 40% public!

51 Census Bureau 149,000 residents (22%) earn less than 185% of poverty

52 Hunger is prevalent One in five Alaska children (20%) are food insecure Feeding America, 2014

53 Low-income access Low income Alaskans receive some $185 million of SNAP benefits from the federal government This is 13 times the value of all food products produced by farms in the state Bureau of Economic Analysis & Census of Agriculture, 2012

54 Food is an important business Food is an important business in Alaska, generating more than $5 billion in sales Meter & Phillips Goldenberg, Building Food Security in Alaska, 2014

55 Alaska consumers...

56 Alaskans depend on Outside Alaskans purchase $2 billion of food each year Visitors purchase even more Estimated from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 2011

57 Food purchased for home use $millions Meats, poultry, fish & eggs 242 Fruits & vegetables 230 Cereals & bakery 150 Dairy products 128 Other 412 Estimated from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 2011

58 Alaska Food & Farm Economy 762 farms Source: USDA Agriculture Census 2012

59 Top Alaska farm products $ millions 1 Ornamentals Hay 4.4 3Vegetables 3.3 4Misc. Livestock Potatoes 2.5 6Cattle & calves 1.7 7Dairy products 1.3 8Barley 1.0 Census of Agriculture, 2012 Total for humans $14 of $30 million

60 Alaskans import most food 95% of the food Alaskans purchase is sourced outside the state James Drew, former Dean of the agriculture school at UAF, 1977

61 Alaskans depend on Outside Alaskans spend $1.9 billion per year buying food sourced Outside Estimated from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 2011

62 Palmer

63 Alaska Food & Farm Economy 241 farms sell direct to consumers (32% of farms) Source: Census of Agriculture 2012

64 Alaskans more likely to connect $2.2 million of sales directly from farmers to consumers This rivals the value of the state s potato crop Census of Agriculture, 2012

65 Alaskans more likely to connect Direct sales rose 32% over the past five years, and now run at 13 times the national average Census of Agriculture, 2012

66 Alaskans more likely to connect Direct sales bring in one of every six dollars earned by farmers who raise food for consumer use Census of Agriculture, 2012

67 Consumers matter If each resident bought $5 of food directly from Alaska farms each week... (& if such farmers existed) farms would earn $188 million of new revenue (Four times current sales)

68

69 Alaska exports seafood In 2011, Alaska exported $3.2 billion of seafood It is estimated that 60 70% of Alaska seafood is sold to export markets McDowell Group, 2013

70 Alaskans want better local options Alaskan seafood is shipped to Seattle for processing, then back to Alaska grocery stores Alaska Food Policy Council Town Hall Meetings, 2014

71 Alaskans rely on hunting & fishing 95% of Kenai Peninsula residents have access to local seafood mostly through sport or subsistence fishing Only 2 5% purchase locally caught seafood from a commercial fisher or grocer Loring, Gerlach, & Harrison 2013

72 Alaskans rely on hunting & fishing Economic value of subsistence fishing, hunting, and gathering $400 million / year Economic value of hunting & fishing for personal use $500 million / year AK Division of Fish and Game

73 Alaska

74 Alaska inspires bold dreams I never saw finer or more bountiful pasture.were it not for the long winters, [Alaska] would be capital stock country, equaling Texas and the prairies of the old West. John Muir, 1915 Travels in Alaska

75 Alaska inspires bold dreams C.C. Georgeson estimated that Alaska could furnish 320 acre homesteads to 200,000 families and support a population of at least three million. Orlando Miller, 1975 The Frontier in Alaska and the Matanuska Colony

76 Alaska inspires bold dreams This, of course, overlooked Native communities and their connection to the land

77 Alaskans have long sought security In 1916 and 1917, Farmers and businessmen in Fairbanks began to collaborate to achieve self sufficiency in food production. Yet these hopes were never realized Papp and Phillips, 2007 Like a Tree to the Soil: A History of Farming n Alaska's Tanana Valley,

78 Infrastructure works against local Since much of Alaska s development came from various mining and natural resource booms transportation systems and markets were not built around agricultural systems, but rather around mining Meter & Phillips Goldenberg, Building Food Security in Alaska, 2014

79 Public action has been effective The only agriculture of any scale or indication of permanence [in the state] has developed in the Matanuska Valley. This probably developed largely because it came about as part of a total program. Gazaway, 1960 Facts and Observations on Agricultural Development in Alaska

80 State of Alaska Matanuska Valley 1982

81 Cities often built on best farmland Map by Adam Cox

82 Cities often built on best farmland Palmer

83 Selawik 1982

84 What has persisted What has persisted is the culture of villages, the dedication of Native people to celebrate nature, share work with each other, and build a solid sense of place by hunting, fishing, and gathering Even today, 12,000 years after the first settlement, this is the strongest way that Alaskans obtain locally raised food Meter & Phillips Goldenberg, Building Food Security in Alaska, 2014

85 Traditional foods are valuable Traditional foods are high in protein, but not in calories Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2014

86 Pressures on subsistence gathering A variety of pressures are combining to create uncertainty for Native hunters and fishermen: cost of fuel, weather change, flooding, shifting migratory patterns, and radiation Meter & Phillips Goldenberg, Building Food Security in Alaska, 2014

87 Selawik 1982

88 Purchased diet invokes public costs The Alaska Native age adjusted rate of death from preventable chronic diseases ran 1.4 to 2.1 times that of their White peers Some analysts note that weight related health conditions are closely correlated with moving away from traditional foods to purchased foods Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, 2014

89 Widening losses Often the people who captained subsistence hunting parties were also commercial fishers When they sold their fishing permits, often no one in their families had the equipment required to fish for subsistence Many people could no longer access traditional foods Roberta Townsend-Vennel, 2014, representing a tribal position

90 Turning to stores threatens culture As people turn to stores for their food, this leads to the loss of language, since people have fewer occasions where they draw upon these skills Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2014

91 Impact of food programs Native elders tell stories about the ways that raising food was a normal part of life in many remote villages That all went out with the food programs.when provisions began to be delivered to villages, people often let go of their gardens. Roberta Townsend Vennel, 2014, representing a tribal position

92 Kotzebue 1982

93 Purchased diet invokes public costs Direct medical costs of treating conditions related to obesity (for all Alaskans) are estimated at $459 million per year Trogdon, et al, 2012

94 Kotzebue 1982

95 Cultural importance Food is our best connection. Culture is medicine. Ken Hoyt, Wrangell, 2014

96 Palmer Experiment Station 1982

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99 $millions (2012) Crop & livestock sales in Alaska, Livestock Crops Nursery crop boom Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis Aquaculture included in livestock

100 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

101 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

102 $14 million less than 1969 $150 million gain ; $58 million lost since 2004 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

103 Alaska Farm & Food Economy Farmers produce $35 million of commodities per year and Spend $41 million to raise them Lose $6 million in production costs Averages for ( ) Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

104 Alaska Food & Farm Economy Farm families earn $4 million of other farm related income And receive $7 million in federal supports each year ( ) Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

105 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

106 Palmer airport

107 51% of farms reported a net loss in 2012 Census of Agriculture, 2012

108 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

109 $30 million of these farm inputs are sourced outside the state Source: Ken Meter using data from Agriculture Census 2007

110 Using local inputs would reduce these losses Compost at Pleasantview Farm (Circleville, Ohio)

111

112 Key recommendations Foster subsistence harvesting and related skills Build personal skills in agriculture Expand agriculture and gardening Build infrastructure that supports local food production Adopt state policy that supports local food production

113 Key recommendations Focus consumer attention on staying loyal to Alaska grown food Expand food processing and manufacturing for in state markets Strengthen internal food distribution networks Strengthen statewide transparency and coordination

114 Key recommendations If Alaskans want to eat more local food, they will eat more food that can be grown in the state Seafood Greens & vegetables Root crops Meat Dairy Grains And they will eat less that needs to be imported

115 Key recommendations How much land would be required to provide all of Alaska s demand? [At current rates of consumption] acres Potatoes 4,700 Carrots 200 Cabbage 200 Lettuce 600

116 Key recommendations Winter storage is key Community caches On farm storage Root cellars in homes

117 Food production nodes That feed Food Hubs Proposed Food Web in South Carolina

118 Incubator farm with packing shed

119 Incubator farm with packing shed Packing 5 acres shed 5 acres 5 acres 5 acres 5 acres

120 One possible food production node

121 Distribution Washing & Storage One possible food production node Staging Commercial kitchen Utilities Offices

122 Proposed Food Web in Alaska

123 Proposed Food Web in Alaska

124 Key recommendations Nenana is a chance to: Set aside farm land Build local infrastructure Supply country towns with Alaska foods

125 Key recommendations Two dairy farms have switched to on farm processing Restoring a larger scale processing industry will be difficult as long as imported milk is relatively inexpensive

126 Key recommendations Plans for beef production for export are on hold Some reindeer herders want to export

127 Key recommendations Raising food for export is limited by: Lack of farming skills Lack of Alaska grown inputs/cost of imports Rising oil prices will make this less attractive This will do little to feed Alaskans

128 Key recommendations Entrepreneurs suggest taking smaller steps to move forward

129 Key recommendations

130 Key recommendations The key is to build consumer loyalty

131 Key recommendations Alaska should further market the concept of buying local foods: Eat five fruits and vegetables per day Buy $5 of food each week from an Alaska farm

132 Adopt marketing campaign Artwork by Carrie Cline Cortez, Colorado

133 Key recommendations Alaska should train youth in food literacy: Farming skills Safe food handling Food preparation

134 Key recommendations The State s investment of $3 million per year for schools to buy local food is the most significant investment now being made

135 Kodiak Key to ensuring that these food growing activities last over time is to try to make growing food a part of the daily routine. Roberta Townsend-Vennel, 2014, representing a tribal position

136 Kodiak Photos: Kodiak Public Schools

137 Vision for local food economies Build: Health Wealth Connection Capacity

138 Finding Food in Farm Country (612)