CSAs Provides Access to Locally Grown Food, Support Farmers

Access to locally grown food is one step toward making Alaska a more food-secure state. ACEP’s Amanda Byrd, who is working on a documentary about Alaska agriculture and food security, recently visited local farmers who are providing food through farm shares.

Community-supported agriculture is a program that connects farmers directly with consumers. A CSA gives farmers early-season capital and a guaranteed market for their produce. It also gives local consumers a guaranteed share of a farmer’s crop, sharing the risks and benefits of food production with the farmer.

Byrd, her filming assistant and UAF documentary film professor Robert Prince visited several locations to see food production and workforce development activities. They stopped by Spinach Creek Farm’s weekly CSA delivery on the Fairbanks campus, the Tanana Valley Farmers Market, and Calypso Farm and Ecology Center.

This year, 44 individuals and families purchased a share of Spinach Creek Farm’s summer harvest, which will be delivered over 14 weeks.

The food security documentary filming continues throughout the summer and is funded by Texas-based AgriLogic through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

Pete Mayo (at far right) and Nancy Fresco (left) watch as Molly and Lizzy Cable share a cucumber from the Spinach Creek Farm CSA. Photo by Amanda Byrd.