Alaska Food Festival and Conference scheduled Nov. 7-9
October 24, 2014
907-474-5406
10/24/2014
The Alaska Food Festival and Conference will take place Nov. 7-9 at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The Alaska Food Policy Council, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and UAA will host activities at Lucy Cuddy Hall, including a conference Nov. 7 and the Alaska Food Festival Nov. 8, with local foods to sample, a farmers market and a dozen food workshops.
Food Policy Council co-chair Liz Snyder said the conference and festival is for everyone interested in food in Alaska.
“The idea is to celebrate, strengthen and promote our local food system and to connect with the community,” she said.
Ken Meter, a food system analyst from Minnesota, will open the conference with a talk
about building food security and his recent work analyzing Alaska’s food system. The
conference will also include a photo documentary on food insecurity and sessions on
community-based fishermen, planning and promoting a specialty food business, emergency
preparedness, traditional and customary foods, farming in Alaska, food cooperatives,
and food and hunger policy advocacy.Workshops during the Nov. 8 food festival will cover cooking and baking with Alaska barley, keeping chickens in urban Alaska, powerhouse Alaska fruits and vegetables, food preservation resources, harvesting from the garden, fermentation and fermented foods, growing and using herbs, and more. Most workshops are free, but a few have materials fees.
The conference will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 7, with a food policy networking event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 8. Participants may tour various food sites in Anchorage on Nov. 9, including the Bear Tooth restaurant, the Fire Island bakery, the Downtown Soup Kitchen and more.
The festival admission fee is $10 and different registration options are available for the conference. The tour is free. See the full schedule, registration and self-guided tour information at http://bit.ly/akfoodpolicy. The Alaska Food Policy Council is a coalition of agencies and individuals interested in improving Alaska’s food security.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Alaska Food Policy Council, 907-269-8072, alaskafoodpolicycouncil@gmail.com.
ON THE WEB: http://bit.ly/akfoodpolicy.
DC/10-24-14/098-15