Farmers summit explores opportunity for growth: entrepreneurial spirit reinvigorated for local food production.

• Author: Goodrich, Bethany
• Position: AGRICULTURE

The Southeastern community of Haines was once known as the strawberry capital of Alaska. In the 1900s, Charlie Anway's prolific red berries were shipped throughout the state--his largest berry measuring seven inches in circumference. During the harvesting season for more than two decades, Anway hired up to twenty pickers and grossed more than $700 a day.

"Charlie Anway wasn't alone. During this time there were at least eight operating farms in Haines producing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for sale in the community, the state, and down south," says Madeline Witek, who is the community coordinator of the Sheldon Museum in Haines.

Witek presented on the strength of Haines' colorful agricultural history to a fascinated audience during the opening of the second biennial Southeast Farmers Summit in February. More than seventy-five fruit and vegetable growers and livestock farmers from across the region flocked to Haines to reinvigorate the entrepreneurial spirit of local agriculture.

Fresh Produce

Much has changed since the days of Charles Anway. When it comes to fresh produce in Southeast Alaska today, the Farmers Summit emphasized that there is ample opportunity for growth.

Southeast Alaskans spend $19 million each year importing roughly 96 percent of its fresh produce, according to the Current Potential Economic Impacts of Locally-Grown Produce in Southeast Alaska report published by the McDowell group and presented at the Summit. Consider potatoes, a crop that grows locally, as an example. According to the report, more than $3 million is spent on some 2 million pounds of imported spuds each year. Roughly 38 percent of Southeast households grew food last year, and about thirty commercial growers are cultivating in the region. While completely closing the import gap is unlikely, farmers are confident that improving local production is not only possible but important for our state's food security and good for our wallets too.

The Farmers Summit was organized by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, Takshanuk Watershed Council, and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership to cultivate momentum in the industry. "While production in Southeast Alaska is currently limited, there are many individuals who are working hard to provide fresh food for our region and create livelihoods around local food production," explains Lia Heifetz, the organizer of this year's Farmers Summit. "This is a venue to nurture growth, to provide a space to share lessons learned between commercial farmers, connect farmers to resources, boost entrepreneurial know-how, and present research-based technologies pertaining to commercial agriculture."

Maximizing Efficiency

Emily Garrity runs a successful farming business in Homer named Twitter Creek Gardens. She journeyed south to this year's Farmers Summit to share her...