Fairbanks Food Hub

Shared food infrastructure, cooperative distribution, and farmer incubation

We are a food hub working group in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Interior food system needs cooperation and organization to remain robust and strengthen food security. 

VISION

A non-profit focused on 4 aspects:

1) Farmer incubation

2) Establishment of a robust community kitchen

3) Establish a cooperative food processing and storage facility - potential for cooperative wholesaling to school districts

4) Promote year-round food production with hydroponics and mushroom farming. 


Aggregation at the cooperative facility could  provide instant sale to farmers, and shared marketing, allowing local food to pool together to meet the demand of larger institutional buyers such as school districts and community stores.


The DEC certified processing kitchen will support the creation of value-added products for our creative community of food producers to reach retail markets legally and safely, without the enormous overhead of financing their own DEC certified kitchen. We still have over 20, and counting, local food producers making value-added products that don’t have access to a safe DEC certified kitchen, can’t afford to build their own, but now no longer qualify under cottage law because they make over $25,000. 


Storage for locally produced foods will provide an essential service to local farmers, encouraging them to produce more and sell throughout the Winter. Having food in a central locale makes it easier to organize and distribute to local and rural school districts, food banks, and other buyers. 


In Fairbanks we have local food retailers like The Roaming Root and the co-op grocery that say they need more food storage. 


Local food producers in multiple reports have stated they would produce more food, if they had access to shared food storage.


We have large buyers like Quality Sales and the School District that have stated they would love to purchase large amounts of local food for our children, but the cost of transaction is too expensive to buy little bits here and there from various farms; they need a local food aggregator for bulk purchases. 



Production with a hydroponics/mushroom farm will add to the amount of available fresh food year round.


Farmer incubation and education whereby new farmers are provided land, equipment, training, business modeling, and a guaranteed market price at end of season to be sold to the food hub co-op if they wish. 


Farm land access for new farmers is provided through our network of arable land owners willing to share their space with food producers. 


Training provided through AFFECT, the "Fairbanks Soil and Water's" farming education program that literally pays people to learn how to farm.


CURRENT SUPPORT

The Fairbanks North Star Borough has established their formal support of this project by listing us as the lead for such a facility on their most recent Community Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). We have a letter of support from Mayor Bryce Ward, and the borough chose this project for an economic impact assessment. 


The Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC)  has stated in their Regional Food Assessment and Recommendations report (2021) the desire for  “increasing food availability from farming and local food production, especially in communities outside the Fairbanks area”, and “Increasing food affordability, availability, quality, and culture in retail and commercial food outlets, again, especially in communities outside the Fairbanks area[...]”


The Alaska Food Policy Council’s report on Potential Infrastructure Investments (2018) highlights Alaska’s legislative priority to support, “Food Storage in Climate-Protected Food Caches Across the State”, and “Shared Community Kitchens for Creating Value-Added Products”. The report states that, “If several farms co-located in close proximity to such a facility and coordinated their efforts, they would gain considerable market presence, with buyers wanting to know what they are growing and confident that deliveries could be made.”


The Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s report on Food Security in Interior Alaska (2018) interviewed 32 local producers and 55 buyers. From their findings they recommend, “Develop a basic local food distribution center business model, assessing the feasibility of adding services after one to five years of operation, that addresses the challenges raised by farmers and buyers,” and, “consider a range of desired services, offering a one-stop shop for buyers and farmers for advertising availability and quantity of local food, reduced delivery time and increased product freshness, cold storage and an overall aim of simplifying and streamlining the market in wholesale local food.


The Food Security Task Force Report (2022) commissioned by Governor Mike Dunleavy states the primary infrastructure needed for producers as, “cold storage and other storage infrastructure.” For processing, the report highlights, “commercial kitchens and processing equipment,” as an infrastructure need. Under the Distribution and Processing section of the report, the report states the need for, “Climate-controlled, regional hub storage facilities”, “Refrigeration and temperature-controlled storage centers for local producers” and, “Commercial kitchens for food processing for easier storage and distribution”.


CURRENT STAGE 

We are actively seeking funding to lay the groundwork for a shared-use kitchen. We continue  to build relationships in Interior communities, conduct needs assessments, and most importantly, learn from the community how they would like to be represented in a community owned food hub. These are the first steps.

Team

Cindee Karns

Cindee is a life-long Alaskan and retired 8th grade teacher, who recently returned to Fairbanks to retire. She is a certified permaculture instructor and feels strongly about living sustainably in Alaska like our indigenous ancestors before us.  Cindee co-founded AnchorGardens in Anchorage and is eager to continue working on Food Security in the interior. Cindee feels that making Alaska more food secure should be a top priority for everyone who lives here.



Callen Troy Christensen

Callen is a naturalist, musician, farmer, and forager. He's passionate about nutrition, health, farming/gardening, mycology, and ecology and has always worked in this capacity. He currently runs a wild foods foraging co-op, a hydroponics and mushroom farm, is conducting sustainability research on chaga fungus, and works on a handful of other related projects including the formation of a food hub for Interior Alaska. He lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, lower Tanana Dene lands, with his wife and son. He loves making music, XC skiing, snowboarding, backpacking, and climbing.

Melissa Sikes

Mel Sikes is the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s (FSWCD) Natural Resource Education Specialist and has worked there since 2010. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Unity College which she received in 1990. She is the Program Director (PD) for the AFFECT Community Foods Project, managing and overseeing all aspects of the grant. She is the program leader for the Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom program. She is a governing board member and treasurer of the Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC), a state organization dedicated to strengthening the food system in Alaska. She and another local governing board member of AFPC facilitated the creation of the Interior Alaska Food Network (IAFN), a local food policy organization. Her duties at FSWCD also include developing and overseeing the after-school natural resource education program, instructing educator workshops, managing education and agriculture grants, planning and managing outreach community events.

Jenn Brown

Jenn created created Foraged & Found, a CPG food brand that creates food products from wild Alaska kelp. She developed products, created a comprehensive brand platform - spanning websites, labels, marketing materials, and social media assets - and designed a winning sales strategy, culminating in Foraged & Found products finding a home on the shelves of Whole Foods Market. When building in the business world wasn't enough she created a non-profit organization in direct response to rural and underserved community needs, driven by a mission to make the world a better and safer place to eat through food systems infrastructure development. Her entrepreneurial ventures have been incredibly rewarding and have allowed me to develop a diverse skill set. Her mission is to build, to innovate, and to make a lasting impact on the global food system. She's excited to continue building and innovating in her current roles, and I looks forward to connecting with like-minded individuals and organizations who share her passion for growth, innovation, and making a positive difference.

Abby Lutmer

Abby Lutmer is a farmer, aspiring herbalist, outdoors enthusiast, and Ayurveda student. She's very passionate about sustainable, small-scale agriculture, local food systems, and community care. She co-owns Heartspace Community Farm and is building a community on top of Haystack Mountain, north of Fox in Interior Alaska. She has a bachelor of science degree in sustainable development with an emphasis on agroecology and has worked on a myriad of different farms, permaculture projects, and homesteads throughout the world.

We believe in the power of cooperative management. By creating a network of equals in an organization we as individuals gain fulfillment, passion, and respect, while the organization becomes resilient and interconnected, allowing for innovation to spring forth at any point.

Local food is more than just food; it's friendship, community, communication, and relationships. We are all leaders in our own right, and together, with our diverse skill sets, is how we become resilient. 

Key Partners

Contact Us

Please reach out if you are interested in joining this project in any way. Thank you!

theislandhydro@gmail.com


Additional Resources

Many Alaskan organizations have published reports detailing the need for a project like this in recent years, all reiterating the same things. We propose wrapping up the research and taking the jump.